Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 190,525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,160 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $9,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $1,873,696,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,544,751,000 after buying an additional 21,451,006 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,830,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $401,806,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540,360 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,965,000. Finally, Cowa LLC raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9,777.8% in the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,657,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,110 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $48.30 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.57. The firm has a market cap of $97.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $47.58 and a 52-week high of $70.93.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The firm had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BMY shares. StockNews.com cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, April 1st. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.18.

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.