Analysts Set Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Price Target at $54.29

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.64.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Activity

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,451,214 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968,729 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,325,227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,204,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,228,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in 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 valued at $975,897,000 after purchasing an additional 225,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 1.4 %

BMY stock opened at $56.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.68. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $61.08.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

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.