Tufton Capital Management Reduces Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Tufton Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 134,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,788 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $6,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $48.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,102,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,673,779. The company has a market cap of $97.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $47.58 and a one year high of $70.93. 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 50 day moving average price of $51.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.59.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently 62.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BMY. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, April 1st. Redburn Atlantic cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Societe Generale cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.18.

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.