BD Buys Back 10 Million Shares as Pictet Trims 5.7% Stake

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) by 5.7% in the third quarter, selling 7,287 shares and leaving the fund with 120,558 shares worth $21,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing, according to Holdings Channel. The trim is the outlier in a quarter when most large institutions moved the other way. For finance teams tracking ownership flows, the detail that matters is scale: 86.97% of BDX stock now sits with hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Which institutions moved in the second quarter?

Several majors built or expanded positions while Pictet was trimming:

• BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position valued at approximately $3,721,533,000.
• State Street Corp grew its stake by 8.5%, adding 1,177,256 shares to reach 15,000,064 shares worth $2,269,960,000.
• First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holding by 15.8%, buying 1,887,224 shares to reach 13,815,335 shares valued at $2,090,675,000.
• Bank of America Corp DE initiated a new stake worth roughly $474,993,000.
• Legal & General Group Plc added 30,766 shares, a 1.5% increase, bringing its position to 2,101,695 shares worth $318,050,000.

What did the latest quarter deliver?

BD reported quarterly earnings on Thursday, November 5th, posting earnings per share (EPS, the profit attributable to each share) of $4.15, beating the consensus estimate of $4.07 by $0.08. Revenue came in at $5.27 billion against analyst expectations of $5.11 billion, up 5.4% from the prior-year quarter's $3.96 EPS figure on the earnings line. Return on equity (ROE, net income as a share of shareholder equity) stood at 14.90%, with a net margin of 5.66%. Sell-side analysts on average forecast full-year EPS of $13.21.

The same day, the board authorized a share buyback program covering 10,000,000 shares — up to 3.6% of outstanding stock through open-market purchases. Repurchase authorizations of this size typically signal management's view that shares are undervalued.

What changed on the dividend?

BD raised its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share from $1.05, payable Thursday, December 31st to investors of record on Thursday, December 10th. That annualizes to $4.24, a 2.0% yield at recent prices. Treasurers should note the payout ratio (dividends as a share of earnings) sits at 101.45%, meaning the company currently distributes slightly more than it earns — a level that constrains future hikes without earnings growth.

How are insiders positioned?

Insider activity was modest. EVP Michael Feld sold 165 shares at an average $188.49 on Wednesday, August 26th, a transaction of $31,100.85 that cut his ownership by 0.83%; he retains 19,720 shares valued at $3,717,022.80. CEO Thomas E. Polen, Jr. sold 2,993 shares at an average $210.00 on Thursday, November 5th — $628,530.00 in total, a 2.65% reduction leaving him 110,163 shares worth approximately $23,134,230. Both trades ran under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans (scheduled trading programs set up in advance to avoid insider-timing concerns). Insiders have sold 3,310 shares worth $688,650 over the last 90 days; insiders hold 0.40% of the stock.

What do the valuation metrics show?

Shares opened at $214.74 on Thursday, up 1.0%, near the fifty-two week high of $216.74 and well above the low of $140.11. The company carries a market cap of $59.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio (P/E adjusted for growth) of 3.56, and a beta (sensitivity to market moves) of just 0.22. The 50-day moving average sits at $189.73 versus a 200-day average of $170.42. Liquidity ratios — a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.87 — sit below the conventional 1.0 comfort line, alongside a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

How does Wall Street read it?

Analyst moves skew constructive:

• Zacks Research upgraded from "hold" to "strong-buy" on Wednesday, October 21st.
• Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" with a $242.00 price target on Thursday, November 5th.
• Weiss Ratings lifted its rating from "hold (c-)" to "hold (c)" on Wednesday, November 4th.
• Bank of America raised its target from $185.00 to $200.00 with a "neutral" rating on Monday, August 31st.
• UBS Group initiated coverage with a "buy" and a $190.00 target on Tuesday, July 28th.

The consensus tally: one Strong Buy, eight Buy, eight Hold and one Sell, producing an average "Moderate Buy" rating and an average price target of $197.47, according to MarketBeat — a figure below the latest trading price.

BD, founded in 1897, develops and manufactures syringes, needles, infusion systems, medication-management technologies, diagnostic systems and laboratory instruments used in healthcare, clinical laboratories and life sciences research.