Fort L.P. Purchases Shares of 937 Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Fort L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 937 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 27.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,814 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,232 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,274,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the first quarter worth $324,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 9.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,422 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $14,481,000 after buying an additional 5,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 4.5% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,765 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BDX shares. Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James dropped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.63.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:BDX traded up $1.65 on Friday, reaching $235.24. 1,278,383 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,371,782. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $237.56 and its 200-day moving average is $235.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $218.75 and a 1-year high of $259.92.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 13.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.