California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 69,434,598 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company $BDX

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 14,668.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 69,907,953 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,434,598 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.25% of Becton, Dickinson and Company worth $10,579,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 22,225.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 40,711,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $790,079,000 after buying an additional 40,528,680 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the second quarter valued at about $3,721,533,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,989,132 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,714,871,000 after acquiring an additional 116,737 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 11,646,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,260,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,885,361 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,331,165,000 after acquiring an additional 53,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.49, for a total value of $31,100.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,717,022.80. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Roland Goette sold 2,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.84, for a total value of $440,887.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,686,559.04. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,005 shares of company stock worth $1,423,580. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company from $156.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.67.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:BDX opened at $179.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $171.21 and its 200-day moving average is $160.61. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $127.59 and a 1-year high of $193.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.21.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.09. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.620-12.720 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.51%.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. BD’s products are used by healthcare institutions, clinical laboratories, life science researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to enable safe, effective delivery of care, specimen collection and diagnostic testing. The company’s operations span multiple business areas focused on medical devices, life sciences research tools and interventional technologies.

BD’s product portfolio includes single-use medical devices such as syringes, needles, needlesafety and injection systems, infusion therapy and medication management solutions, as well as vascular access, urology and oncology devices acquired through its interventional business.