Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Sells 515 Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX reduced its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,015 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 515 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 0.3% in the first quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 38,326 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,031,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 4.3% in the first quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,138,428 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $208,820,000 after buying an additional 46,934 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 3.0% in the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 3,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 9.7% in the first quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investec Asset Management PTY Ltd raised its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and by 38.9% in the first quarter. Investec Asset Management PTY Ltd now owns 1,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) traded up 0.02% during trading on Monday, reaching $197.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 185,459 shares. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73 and a beta of 1.05. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 52 week low of $161.29 and a 52 week high of $206.63.

Becton, Dickinson and (NYSE:BDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.02. Becton, Dickinson and had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post $9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Becton, Dickinson and’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.43%.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BDX shares. Bank of America Corporation reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Becton, Dickinson and in a report on Friday, July 21st. BidaskClub cut Becton, Dickinson and from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Zacks Investment Research raised Becton, Dickinson and from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Cowen and Company reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Becton, Dickinson and in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial, Inc. raised Becton, Dickinson and from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $194.69.

In other news, VP Jeffrey S. Sherman sold 28,765 shares of Becton, Dickinson and stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.98, for a total transaction of $5,349,714.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 70,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,171,289.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) is a global medical technology company engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of a range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products. The Company operates through two segments: BD Medical and BD Life Sciences. The BD Medical segment produces an array of medical technologies and devices that are used to help improve healthcare delivery in a range of settings.