Short Interest in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Increases By 12.3%

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,500,000 shares, a growth of 12.3% from the September 30th total of 20,030,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 12,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.4% in the third quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 16,715 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth $235,000. TFB Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth $216,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 36.0% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,892 shares during the period. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.7% in the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 31,240 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

BMY stock traded up $3.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $55.74. 18,739,669 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,491,918. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $56.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.01 billion, a PE ratio of -17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.46.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -73.62%.

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.