Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,741 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,760 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $488,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,355,000 after purchasing an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 11,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 81.3% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,775 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 34,418 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE:BMY opened at $53.85 on Friday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $61.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.07. The company has a market capitalization of $109.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.45. 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 (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.81%. Equities analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

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.