Daiwa America Upgrades Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) to Strong-Buy

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was upgraded by equities researchers at Daiwa America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

BMY stock traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.73. 8,630,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,406,313. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.83 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

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

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.1% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 77.1% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 5,461,767 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,546,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $313,398,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 420.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,241,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $219,443,000 after purchasing an additional 3,425,789 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.