Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 1,800 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,180 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $6,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 532.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 30,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter worth about $5,161,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,139,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.73.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $45.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,121,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,625,283. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.44. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $63.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.53) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.45 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 8.83% and a negative net margin of 13.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.30%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -77.42%.

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.