ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 2,214 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,214 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,203,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,807,153,000 after purchasing an additional 8,675,322 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter valued at about $392,608,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 119.8% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,293,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $666,699,000 after purchasing an additional 6,701,097 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 77.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,547,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $680,469,000 after purchasing an additional 5,461,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 97.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,949,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $431,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.20.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $53.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.37. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $57.65. The stock has a market cap of $108.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.46.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 12.51% and a negative net margin of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $12.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -77.42%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 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.