Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $5.07 Million Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 89,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 30,168 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb comprises 1.6% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $5,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% during 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 increased 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 valued at $2,228,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This trade represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $654,091.20. This trade 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.27.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE:BMY opened at $55.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -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.