Analysts Set Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Price Target at $207.64

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $207.6364.

Several research firms have recently commented on BDX. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $197.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BDX stock opened at $205.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12 month low of $162.29 and a 12 month high of $251.99. The stock has a market cap of $58.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.11.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.750-15.050 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.04%.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total value of $38,317.86. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,324,389.28. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,610 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $334,010.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,509,228.70. This represents a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,662 shares of company stock worth $535,246. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $979,290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,174,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,308,749 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,565,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,305,947 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the second quarter valued at $653,377,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,786,190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,513,421,000 after buying an additional 3,268,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,514,446 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,466,613,000 after buying an additional 1,670,590 shares in the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.