ICW Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,495 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $2,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 125,972 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,716,000 after buying an additional 5,519 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 5,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Phraction Management LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Phraction Management LLC now owns 32,924 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,028,000 after buying an additional 7,183 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $417,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 7,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 3,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,715 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.81, for a total value of $399,269.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,750.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BDX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $234.42. 1,141,250 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,361,278. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $67.72 billion, a PE ratio of 55.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $238.98 and a 200-day moving average of $240.76. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $229.40 and a 12 month high of $287.32.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 6.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.05%.

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.