Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 98,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $5,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meridian Management Co. lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 28,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 26,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on BMY shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This trade represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares in the company, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of BMY stock opened at $56.35 on Friday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $39.35 and a twelve month high of $61.08. The stock has a market cap of $114.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.48 and a 200 day moving average of $51.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

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.