Bell Bank Cuts Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Bell Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 30.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,211 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,909 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BMY shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.1 %

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $55.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.30. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The stock has a market cap of $113.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.63, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. On average, equities analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -56.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.