Becton, Dickinson and company (NYSE: BDX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 4, RTT News reports. Investors registered on Friday December 10 will receive a dividend of 0.87 per share from the medical device supplier on Friday December 31. This represents a dividend of $ 3.48 on an annualized basis and a return of 1.41%. This is a boost from Becton, Dickinson and the previous quarterly dividend of $ 0.83.

Becton, Dickinson and has increased its dividend by 8.8% over the past three years and has increased its dividend annually for the past 50 consecutive years. Becton, Dickinson and has a payout ratio of 25.7%, which means its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Becton, Dickinson and to earn $ 12.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its annual dividend of $ 3.32 with a expected future payout rate of 26.9%.

NYSE BDX shares opened at $ 247.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $ 70.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.78, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt ratio of 0.65. Becton, Dickinson and has a one-year low of $ 226.15 and a one-year high of $ 267.37. The company has a fifty-day moving average price of $ 249.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $ 247.67.

Becton, Dickinson and (NYSE: BDX) last announced their results on Wednesday, August 4. The medical device supplier reported earnings per share of $ 2.74 for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $ 2.44 by $ 0.30. The company posted revenue of $ 4.89 billion in the quarter, compared to analysts’ estimates of $ 4.51 billion. Becton, Dickinson and had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 16.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter increased 26.8% from the same quarter last year. During the same period of the previous year, the company made EPS of $ 2.20. Equity research analysts predict Becton, Dickinson and will post 12.91 EPS for the current year.

A number of equity analysts have weighed on the title recently. SVB Leerink reaffirmed a “market performance” rating on shares of Becton, Dickinson and in a research note on Friday, October 22. Zacks Investment Research lifted shares of Becton, Dickinson and from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a target price of $ 250.00 for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 19. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Becton, Dickinson and from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced its target price for the share from $ 276.93 to $ 265.00 in a research note on Friday August 6. Five analysts rated the stock with a conservation rating and five issued a buy rating for the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Becton, and Dickinson has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $ 271.00.

In addition, director Claire Fraser sold 387 shares of the company in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 18. The shares were sold for an average price of $ 251.58, for a total value of $ 97,361.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal file with the SEC, accessible through this hyperlink. In addition, Vice President Thomas J. Spoerel sold 266 shares of the company in a transaction dated Friday August 6. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 242.30, for a total trade of $ 64,451.80. Following the closing of the sale, the Vice President now directly owns 1,285 shares of the company, valued at $ 311,355.50. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,093 shares of the company valued at $ 2,330,578 in the past three months. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s shares.

An institutional investor recently increased its position in Becton, Dickinson and equities. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings of shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE: BDX) by 16.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its latest filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor held 9,175,000 shares of the medical device supplier after purchasing an additional 1,323,224 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley owned approximately 3.19% of Becton, Dickinson and was worth $ 2,231,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 84.25% of the shares are currently held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Profile

Becton, Dickinson & Co is a medical technology company. The company is engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of medical supplies, apparatus, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products used by healthcare facilities, physicians, life science researchers , clinical laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and the general public.

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