Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $61.10 and last traded at $60.28, with a volume of 1005624 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $59.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BMY. Citigroup upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.27.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $122.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.78, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.71.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This trade represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,681,594 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,837,000 after purchasing an additional 40,605 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the second quarter worth approximately $328,000. Doheny Asset Management CA acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,970 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,093,000 after acquiring an additional 148,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.2% in the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 29,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

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.