Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Sells 109 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lowered its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,638 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 44,120 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $10,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Pflug Koory LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total transaction of $633,810.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,469.53. This trade represents a 31.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $248.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $228.08 and a 200-day moving average of $233.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $218.75 and a fifty-two week high of $249.49.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

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.