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

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) shares 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 traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 15,592,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.30.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Societe Generale lowered 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 lowered their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.18.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth about $1,560,524,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,292,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,467,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,158 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised 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 worth $1,207,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,228 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,544,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 19,811,009 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,016,502,000 after buying an additional 2,814,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $98.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

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.