United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 10,231 Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 10,231 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 40,528,680 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,721,533,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 buying an additional 5,174,944 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised 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 worth $769,397,000 after acquiring an additional 4,137,888 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 4th quarter worth about $734,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $185.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 4,152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $768,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,380,155. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.84, for a total value of $440,887.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,686,559.04. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 11,869 shares of company stock worth $1,994,719 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BDX opened at $189.71 on Friday. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $127.59 and a 52-week high of $193.07. The stock has a market cap of $52.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.14, a PEG ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $166.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. The 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, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.51%.

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.