Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.29.

Several brokerages have commented on BMY. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, 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.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $55.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.17. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly 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 positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -66.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after buying an additional 11,387 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 81.3% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,775 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 34,418 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,905,000. Finally, Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at approximately $927,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.