South Dakota Investment Council Sells 5,600 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 172,375 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $8,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,830,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $401,806,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,360 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth about $86,965,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter valued at approximately $82,405,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,292,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,467,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,606,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $905,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,902 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price 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 note on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.18.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $48.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,637,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,470,378. The stock has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.22 and a 200 day moving average of $51.32. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $47.58 and a 12-month 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.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted 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 business had revenue of $11.48 billion during 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 revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 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.