Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 51,830 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% during 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. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $975,897,000 after purchasing an additional 225,197 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,225,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $839,946,000 after purchasing an additional 735,613 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 14,600,621 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $606,364,000 after purchasing an additional 556,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 14,201,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $734,798,000 after purchasing an additional 67,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $654,091.20. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,830 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $58.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.66 and a 200-day moving average of $47.72.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -66.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in 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. Leerink Partners upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.07.

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.