Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 59,138 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 96.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,094 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 59,138 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BDX. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9,056.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,232,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $979,290,000 after buying an additional 5,174,944 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,118,282,000 after buying an additional 4,223,149 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 23,219.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,155,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $769,397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137,888 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $734,321,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,260,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $175.00 price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $170.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $230.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.64.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX opened at $151.33 on Monday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $127.59 and a 12-month high of $187.35. The stock has a market cap of $41.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.31, a PEG ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $150.72 and a 200-day moving average of $175.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.13. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 5.33%.The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.520-12.720 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $404,511.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,122,355.05. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 2,913 shares of company stock valued at $426,806 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

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.