Magnus Financial Group LLC Invests $330,000 in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Magnus Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,455 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,986,543 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,382,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 561,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $135,267,000 after buying an additional 12,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $647,082,000 after buying an additional 673,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total value of $139,741.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,217 shares in the company, valued at $3,113,949.51. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,840. The trade was a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BDX shares. 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $238.05 on Thursday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $248.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $69.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $227.31 and a 200-day moving average of $232.79.

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 business had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 70.03%.

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.