Physicians Financial Services Inc. Reduces Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,597,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after acquiring an additional 60,365 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth approximately $488,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,355,000 after buying an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after buying an additional 11,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $55.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $113.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.62, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.99 and its 200 day moving average is $54.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -56.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

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.