FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.44 Million Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 2.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,277 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $3,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BDX. State Street Corp raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,953,116 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,364,096,000 after buying an additional 106,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,510,050,000 after purchasing an additional 111,101 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 460,440 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,181,483,000 after purchasing an additional 302,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $222.95 on Tuesday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $249.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $232.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $233.54. 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 company has a market cap of $64.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BDX. Evercore ISI increased their target price on 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. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

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.