Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $196.70 and last traded at $195.7040, with a volume of 43,873 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $194.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $195.00 price target on shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.07.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $54.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.79%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Becton, Dickinson and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.620-12.720 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 19,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,717,022.80. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.84, for a total transaction of $440,887.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,686,559.04. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,906 shares of company stock worth $1,265,855. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Becton, Dickinson and Company

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,721,533,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,000,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,269,960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,256 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,815,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,090,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,887,224 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Becton, Dickinson and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $474,993,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,101,695 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,050,000 after purchasing an additional 30,766 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a broad range of products used by healthcare providers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and patients. Its offerings support medication delivery, diagnostics, infection prevention, surgical care and other clinical procedures.

BD’s products include needles, syringes, injection devices, intravenous administration systems, medication-management technologies, specimen-collection products, diagnostic systems and laboratory instruments.