Townsend & Associates Inc Lowers Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Townsend & Associates Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,154 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY traded up $0.50 on Thursday, hitting $44.17. 3,867,246 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,603,272. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $43.33 and a fifty-two week high of $69.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.11 and its 200 day moving average is $50.48.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.53) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $11.87 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.43%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Societe Generale downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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.