Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $196.70 and last traded at $195.7040, with a volume of 43,873 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $194.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.07.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 1.9%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.73 and a 200-day moving average of $164.54. The stock has a market cap of $54.55 billion, a PE ratio of 59.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 4.52%. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.620-12.720 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.67 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.49, for a total value of $31,100.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,717,022.80. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 2,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.84, for a total transaction of $440,887.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,686,559.04. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,906 shares of company stock worth $1,265,855. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Becton, Dickinson and Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,721,533,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the second quarter worth approximately $474,993,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,815,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,090,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,887,224 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $247,372,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,226,000. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of products used by healthcare providers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and patients. Its offerings support medication delivery, diagnostics, infection prevention, surgical care and other clinical procedures.

BD’s products include needles, syringes, injection devices, intravenous administration systems, medication-management technologies, specimen-collection products, diagnostic systems and laboratory instruments.