Viking Fund Management LLC Buys 125,100 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 133.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 218,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 125,100 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb accounts for 1.9% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $12,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 4,275,787 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 420.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,241,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $219,443,000 after acquiring an additional 3,425,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 695.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,554,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $183,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,107,672 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 19,074,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $986,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY opened at $57.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.45. 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 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.08.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BMY shares. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.27.

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.