Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.64.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BMY shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were acquired 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 owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at $3,395,499.03. This trade represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMY. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,806,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,325,227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,204,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,228,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $975,897,000 after buying an additional 225,197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $57.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.26. The company has a market cap of $116.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.94, a PEG ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

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.