Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Boosts Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 176,097 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,951,000 after acquiring an additional 20,859 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Busey Bank raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 66,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,031,000 after buying an additional 2,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,317,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:BDX opened at $229.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.12, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $251.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $232.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 15.74%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.10%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $278.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roland Goette sold 638 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.03, for a total value of $139,741.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,217 shares in the company, valued at $3,113,949.51. This trade represents a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total transaction of $159,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,215,163.67. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,061 shares of company stock worth $1,379,521 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.