Gradient Investments LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Gradient Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,645 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Meridian Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 28,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 26,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This represents a 3.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.9 %

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $59.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.47 and a 200 day moving average of $52.54.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -69.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BMY shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.27.

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.