Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,800,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 382,463 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.09% of Bristol-Myers Squibb worth $101,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at $257,618,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275,787 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,107,672 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,002,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 194.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,506,741 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $129,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656,141 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,823 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of BMY opened at $61.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.82, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $39.35 and a twelve month high of $63.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.05.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. 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.