Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded at Daiwa America

Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $56.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.02 billion, a PE ratio of -15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08. 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 (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The company 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 company posted $2.00 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 4.27%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -66.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 29.4% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 11,293 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 2,563 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.8% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 317,381 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,181,000 after acquiring an additional 25,543 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 103,954 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,317,000 after acquiring an additional 21,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1,874.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 108,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,602,000 after acquiring an additional 102,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% 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.