Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,801 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 5,407 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $6,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1,168.1% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 42.7% during the second quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 759 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BMY. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of BMY opened at $58.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.74. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $39.35 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $119.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.40, a PEG ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -66.85%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

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.