Mechanics Bank Trust Department Lowers Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department cut its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,154 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,725 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,796 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 18,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,407 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Finally, Clarius Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 15,541 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research started 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, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of BMY opened at $56.35 on Monday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization 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.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -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.