Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,929 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BMY. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,806,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,228,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 19,074,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $986,931,000 after buying an additional 3,002,418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY opened at $56.96 on Monday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.51 billion, a PE ratio of -12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently -56.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

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.