LRI Investments LLC Sells 324 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

LRI Investments LLC cut its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 54.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 266 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 176,097 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,951,000 after purchasing an additional 20,859 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 66,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 152,293 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $34,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phraction Management LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Phraction Management LLC now owns 47,021 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $10,668,000 after buying an additional 3,138 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.28, for a total transaction of $94,497.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,107.36. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $105,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19% 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 valued at $636,393. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BDX. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $280.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $279.00 to $261.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.0%

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $175.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $50.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $251.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $206.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.15.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.07. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The company had revenue of $5.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

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

Becton, Dickinson and 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.