Allstate Corp Purchases Shares of 8,687 Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 8,687 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,971,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BDX. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 142 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Down 0.6 %

BDX stock opened at $227.34 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $218.75 and a 52 week high of $251.99. The company has a market capitalization of $65.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is currently 69.10%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BDX shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.29.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $105,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,960. This represents a 6.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,840. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,984 shares of company stock valued at $1,147,865 over the last quarter. 0.36% 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.