Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of February 7, 2023

Article Excerpt

In February 2018, Becton Dickinson acquired rival medical device maker C.R. Bard (old New York symbol BCR), one of our early Wall Street Stock Forecaster recommendations. Under the terms of the deal, Bard investors received $222.93 in cash plus 0.5077 of a Becton share for each BCR share they held. In all, the deal was worth roughly $25 billion. We first recommended Bard in the April 2002 issue of Wall Street Stock Forecaster. Based on its closing price just before the takeover, it handed our subscribers a 1,062.2% gain. After the takeover, we added Becton Dickinson to our coverage. We felt Bard’s stents, catheters and surgical tools nicely complemented Becton’s needles, syringes and disease testing products. Cost savings in the wake of the purchase also let Becton pay down the loans it needed for the purchase. Becton’s stock has moved mostly sideways since it acquired Bard, partly because the COVID-19 pandemic forced hospitals to delay routine procedures. As a result, they ordered less equipment…