Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 909 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $720,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 688,296 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,844,566 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $647,082,000 after purchasing an additional 673,568 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake 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 worth $1,293,635,000 after buying an additional 460,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter worth $108,243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BDX opened at $235.88 on Wednesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $218.75 and a twelve month high of $248.42. The firm has a market cap of $68.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shana Carol Neal sold 788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $185,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,235. The trade was a 4.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,747 shares of company stock valued at $1,949,520. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.