Park National Corp OH Has $8.43 Million Holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

Park National Corp OH trimmed its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,092 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $8,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 96.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 196 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 86.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised Becton, Dickinson and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Becton, Dickinson and Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.50.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BDX stock opened at $232.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $67.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1 year low of $218.75 and a 1 year high of $249.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.45.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Becton, Dickinson and Company’s payout ratio is presently 70.03%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other Becton, Dickinson and Company news, EVP Roland Goette sold 4,483 shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.01, for a total value of $990,787.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,345 shares in the company, valued at $5,380,488.45. The trade was a 15.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael David Garrison sold 2,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.33, for a total transaction of $633,810.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,469.53. This trade represents a 31.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,764,340. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

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.