Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy 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 note released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY stock traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $56.73. 8,630,710 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,406,313. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.58 and a 200 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 market cap of $115.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 0.44. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -66.85%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of the company’s 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 purchase, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,203,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,807,153,000 after buying an additional 8,675,322 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,325,227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $975,897,000 after purchasing an additional 225,197 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,225,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $839,946,000 after purchasing an additional 735,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

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.