Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.86.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BMY shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY stock opened at $59.85 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.45 billion, a PE ratio of -13.54, 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -56.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,743,262,000 after buying an additional 1,373,209 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,806,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,214 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,866,624 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,593,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.