Sterling Investment Management LLC Has $1.07 Million Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Sterling Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,778 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $53.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $107.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $47.58 and a 12 month high of $71.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Societe Generale cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.12.

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.