Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Trading Up 1%

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) traded up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.69 and last traded at $53.10. 2,721,278 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 16,740,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Societe Generale cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.12.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.8 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $109.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.38.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter valued at about $332,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,075,000 after buying an additional 57,444 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter worth $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,725,000 after acquiring an additional 68,018 shares during the last quarter. 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.