Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.86.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BMY. Leerink Partners upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $59.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.54, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.97. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. Analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb 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 Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth $99,778,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,514 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $188,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at about $534,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

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.