SlateStone Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,339 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $3,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 242.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,783,769 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $461,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,391 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,927,519 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,703,041,000 after acquiring an additional 516,427 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,192,832 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,342,503,000 after acquiring an additional 512,566 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,139,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $553,121,000 after acquiring an additional 473,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,200,213 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,637,062,000 after acquiring an additional 435,168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded down $2.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.63. 103,528 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,372,794. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $66.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.54, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $229.40 and a 52 week high of $287.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.79.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the firm’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 value of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.