Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $70.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $63.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated 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. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $56.84 on Monday. 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 has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $61.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.09 and a 200 day moving average of $49.68. The firm has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a PE ratio of -15.83, a PEG ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -69.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the business’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 transaction of $38,934.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at about $4,036,000. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.2% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 47,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,480,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,355,000 after buying an additional 29,044 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 260,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,462,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the period. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth $2,258,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.