Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 515,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 122,924 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $29,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,355,000 after purchasing an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,305,000 after acquiring an additional 11,387 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at $488,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 81.3% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,775 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 34,418 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $56.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.48 and its 200 day moving average is $51.82. The stock has a market cap of $114.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $39.35 and a 52-week high of $61.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. The firm 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -69.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMY has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.27.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at $654,091.20. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,395,499.03. This represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.