Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

BMY has been the topic of several other reports. William Blair reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY stock opened at $41.24 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $41.07 and a one year high of $66.46. The firm has a market cap of $83.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.53) by $0.13. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a positive return on equity of 8.83%. The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -77.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

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.