Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Lowers Stock Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 69.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,207 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 4,936 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $6,703,041,000 after purchasing an additional 516,427 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in 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 worth $2,637,062,000 after purchasing an additional 435,168 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in 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 worth $1,342,503,000 after purchasing an additional 512,566 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,034,523 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,045,000 after purchasing an additional 395,657 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,630,351 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $938,593,000 after purchasing an additional 304,629 shares during the period. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BDX. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:BDX opened at $231.55 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $239.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.24. The stock has a market cap of $66.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $229.40 and a 1-year high of $287.32.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $67,197.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $542,348.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.