Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Takes $265,000 Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,098 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,365,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,293,635,000 after acquiring an additional 460,440 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 302,893 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after buying an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,984,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $697,513,000 after buying an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $224.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $64.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.83 and a 200-day moving average of $234.40. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $249.89.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 70.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BDX. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. 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, StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.00.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.