Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,937 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $761,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 277.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,936,654 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423,353 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 141.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,345,873 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,544,000 after buying an additional 788,735 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $173,692,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,412,163 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,031,167,000 after acquiring an additional 346,720 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

NYSE:BDX opened at $234.18 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $234.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.64. The firm has a market cap of $67.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.58, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.85. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a one year low of $218.75 and a one year high of $269.52.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 7.13%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.70%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.