Here are three key updates on your portfolio

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BECTON DICKINSON & CO. $235 is a buy. The medical device maker (New York symbol BDX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 289.0 million; Market cap: $67.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bd.com) recently acquired the Critical Care product group of Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (New York symbol EW). This business makes equipment to monitor the vital signs of patients in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. The company paid $4.2 billion for this business. Becton partly funded this with $2.56 billion in new loans. That increased its long-term debt to $18.13 billion as of June 30, 2024. That’s still a moderate 27% of its market cap. The new operations will add roughly $900 million to Becton’s annual revenue of $19.7 billion. As well, Critical Care’s revenue is rising by about 6% to 7% annually. Becton Dickinson is a buy. T. ROWE PRICE GROUP INC. $107 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol TROW; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance…