Exchange Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,533 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,531 shares during the period. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,806,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in 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 period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,204,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,228,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,733,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,398,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482,410 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $57.83 on Tuesday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.48.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -56.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BMY. Leerink Partners upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.86.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.