Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 160,305 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,719 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $36,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BDX. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,960. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,107.36. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,878 shares of company stock worth $636,393. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BDX. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of BDX opened at $175.37 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $50.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $251.99.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.17 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.39%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.