ARS Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,685 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. FMR LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after buying an additional 4,275,787 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 420.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,241,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $219,443,000 after acquiring an additional 3,425,789 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 695.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,554,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $183,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,107,672 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 19,074,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $986,931,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002,418 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $56.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.09. The company has a market capitalization of $114.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.70, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $61.08.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BMY. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.27.

Insider Activity 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb 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.