Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $56.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.20.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY opened at $53.22 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $57.09. The firm has a market cap of $107.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.17, a PEG ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.46.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 14.06% and a positive return on equity of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $12.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -77.42%.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,203,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,807,153,000 after purchasing an additional 8,675,322 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 14,134,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $586,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,424 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.