B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $15.08 Million in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 62,546 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $15,080,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BDX. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,544,000 after purchasing an additional 788,735 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,803,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $655,149,000 after purchasing an additional 688,296 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $108,243,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 346,720 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 1st quarter valued at $75,493,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $224.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $64.79 billion, a PE ratio of 37.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. 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 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $236.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.89.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. Research 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 declared 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 represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.97%.

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.