Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. reduced its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,370 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,597,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $90,335,000 after purchasing an additional 60,365 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth about $488,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after acquiring an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 11,387 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BMY shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $55.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.63, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.45. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.30. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.