Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Trading 0.4% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) were up 0.4% during trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $52.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Bristol-Myers Squibb traded as high as $48.57 and last traded at $48.49. Approximately 1,886,248 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 15,592,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.30.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,560,524,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,544,751,000 after acquiring an additional 21,451,006 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 792.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,030,939 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $206,828,000 after buying an additional 3,579,324 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,534,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,207,549,000 after buying an additional 2,998,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 19,811,009 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,016,502,000 after buying an additional 2,814,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $99.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.39.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.18%.

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.