Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 76.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,939 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 22,883 shares during the quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter worth approximately $332,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,075,000 after buying an additional 57,444 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter worth about $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,725,000 after acquiring an additional 68,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 2.0 %

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock traded up $1.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $54.34. The company had a trading volume of 6,885,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,747,086. The stock has a market cap of $110.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $47.58 and a 1-year high of $71.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 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 analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BMY shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Societe Generale downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.12.

Bristol-Myers Squibb 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.