Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stock Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,347 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 11,444 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $27,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 552.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $233.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $229.40 and a one year high of $287.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.99. The stock has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $542,348.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.