Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 869 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,596 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 869 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $16,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BDX. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 37,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,035,000 after buying an additional 2,421 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd raised its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 40,510 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,878,000 after buying an additional 5,496 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 80.7% during the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 273,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $66,647,000 after purchasing an additional 20,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 766 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price Performance

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock traded up $1.22 on Friday, hitting $234.37. 162,086 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,390,182. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $67.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.43. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $287.32.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.05%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, SVP Thomas J. Spoerel sold 282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $67,197.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $542,348.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BDX. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $301.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $269.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.00.

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.