Versor Investments LP Buys 4,203 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Versor Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 382.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 4,203 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,181,483,000 after buying an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,905,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,146,374,000 after buying an additional 87,230 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $697,513,000 after acquiring an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $655,149,000 after acquiring an additional 688,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BDX shares. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $234.73 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $218.75 and a 52 week high of $249.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.10. The firm has a market cap of $67.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.43.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is 70.03%.

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.