Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Acquires 36,393 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 43.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 120,179 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 36,393 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $18,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22,225.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $790,079,000 after acquiring an additional 40,528,680 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,678,939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,118,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,223,149 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,721,533,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,989,132 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,714,871,000 after purchasing an additional 116,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,260,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,592 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BDX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $177.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $195.00 target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.67.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In related news, EVP Roland Goette sold 2,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.84, for a total transaction of $440,887.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,686,559.04. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.66, for a total value of $160,226.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,633.52. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $1,974,669. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 3.9%

BDX stock opened at $187.82 on Thursday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a twelve month low of $127.59 and a twelve month high of $187.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.02.

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

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.51%.

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.