Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, medical device maker Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Becton Dickinson's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Becton Dickinson facts

   
Headquarters (Founded) Franklin Lakes, N.J. (1897)
Market Cap $18.4 billion
Industry Health care equipment
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $7.35 billion
Management

Chairman/CEO Edward Ludwig

CFO David Elkins
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 16.2%
Cash/Debt $1.75 billion / $1.7 billion
Dividend Yield 2%
Competitors

Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT)

Baxter International (NYSE: BAX)

Covidien (NYSE: COV)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 98% of the 1,087 members who have rated Becton Dickinson believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star ikkyu2, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community, and MarginofSafetyIn.

Late last year, ikkyu2 tapped Becton as a healthy pick: "Health care staples don't go out of style and the company is quietly taking share. Check out the fundamentals, esp. margin -- this is the kind of company you want to own all the time."

In fact, Becton Dickinson's three-year average operating margin (22.9%) edges out rivals Abbott's (20%), Baxter's (22.5%), and Covidien's (21.6%), and easily tops that of other medical device plays like Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) (15.2%) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) (11.9%).

CAPS member MarginofSafetyIn elaborates on the bull case:

[Becton Dickinson] seems to be a very robust business, with high free cash flow generation, high ROE and ROIC. While I would have preferred to see ROA consistently above 9-10%, the other metrics give me great confidence in the company's results. Growth has been extremely consistent at around 7% and seems to be going back to similar levels after a flat 2009. ... It also has promising intrinsic stock returns and a strong balance sheet.

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