Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,073 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $4,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,806,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 period. 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% during 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 worth $986,931,000 after buying an additional 3,002,418 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $56.96 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.75. The stock has a market cap of $115.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.89, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $61.10.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BMY. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded 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 issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

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.