Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 2,600 Shares of Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 103,131 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb were worth $6,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 4,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth about $13,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 29,302 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bristol Myers Squibb Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $46.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.36. Bristol Myers Squibb Company has a 52-week low of $40.09 and a 52-week high of $63.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.10.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.77 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 87.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($4.40) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Bristol Myers Squibb Company will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Bristol Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BMY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 4,250 shares of Bristol Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $47.58 per share, for a total transaction of $202,215.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 83,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,973,548.54. This represents a 5.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company 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.