Ardent Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Ardent Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 10,283 shares during the period. Bristol-Myers Squibb comprises approximately 0.4% of Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BMY. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 610,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,618,000 after purchasing an additional 39,419 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,139,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $162,440,000 after acquiring an additional 28,427 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 3,274 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 25,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 9,001 shares during the period. Finally, McAdam LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $55.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.99 and a 200-day moving average of $54.24. The firm has a market cap of $113.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. Sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

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.