Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Leerink Partnrs

Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BMY. Barclays boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE BMY opened at $59.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.70 billion, a PE ratio of -16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.09 and a beta of 0.44. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.89.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at $654,091.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 31.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 330,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,084,000 after buying an additional 78,309 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 13.9% during the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 29,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.8% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 49,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.4% in the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 46,991 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 10,919 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the last quarter. 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.