Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,660,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the November 30th total of 25,600,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 11,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE BMY opened at $56.56 on Thursday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $61.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $114.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.75.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.62 dividend. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -69.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This represents a 3.04 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,458,536 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $127,205,000 after acquiring an additional 102,790 shares in the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,036,000. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.2% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 47,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after acquiring an additional 29,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 260,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,462,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.64.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.