Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded by Leerink Partners to Outperform Rating

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Leerink Partners currently has $73.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $55.00.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on BMY. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $59.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.89. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The stock has a market cap of $119.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.44, a PEG ratio of 20.09 and a beta of 0.44.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently -66.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at $3,395,499.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,091.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,203,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,807,153,000 after purchasing an additional 8,675,322 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,157,713,000 after buying an additional 1,968,729 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $975,897,000 after acquiring an additional 225,197 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,225,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $839,946,000 after acquiring an additional 735,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.0% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 14,600,621 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $606,364,000 after acquiring an additional 556,295 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.