IFP Advisors Inc Sells 3,963 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

IFP Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,593 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,963 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275,787 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 420.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,241,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $219,443,000 after purchasing an additional 3,425,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 695.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,554,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $183,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107,672 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.7% during the third 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 worth $986,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BMY opened at $57.34 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $116.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. On average, analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.