Norway Savings Bank Reduces Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Norway Savings Bank lowered its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 56.0% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 44,767 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 16,069 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 29,957.4% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 40,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 40,742 shares during the period. Finally, First Foundation Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 5,656 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $57.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,077,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,419,873. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.15. The stock has a market cap of $115.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

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.