Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) to Buyback 10,000,000 Outstanding Stock

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BDX. StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

Becton, Dickinson and Company stock opened at $246.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $218.75 and a 12-month high of $250.91.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.04. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 8.55%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 70.03%.

Insider Activity at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP David Shan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,840. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,488.45. This represents a 15.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,844 shares of company stock worth $2,210,716 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.