Vestal Point Capital LP Takes $7.23 Million Position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 30,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $7,233,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDX. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 165.2% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.0% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 520,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $125,590,000 after buying an additional 5,051 shares in the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.5% in the third quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 22,409 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,403,000 after acquiring an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 62,408 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,047,000 after acquiring an additional 18,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE BDX opened at $221.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52-week low of $218.75 and a 52-week high of $249.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $234.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.23. 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 (NYSE:BDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BDX. Citigroup upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $275.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.00.

Becton, Dickinson and 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.