By Sam Boughedda
Shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) were upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight by Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen on Friday.
Biegelsen has a $295 price target on the stock and told investors in a research note that they believe the company may be better positioned to weather the macro challenges vs some of its peers.
In addition, Wells Fargo sees potential upside to the FY22 outlook based on "solid fundamentals and expect upward revision to FY23 forecast with the addition of the Parata acquisition."
"BDX shares have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 4 recessions, which we believe reflects the company’s products being used in procedures that are less deferrable," added the analyst.
Wells Fargo raised their FY22 sales forecast for BDX by $70 million to $18.69 billion.
"Given BDX’s pricing power and the less elective nature of its products, we see BDX as an excellent defensive name given the risk of a recession."