Busey Bank Raises Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Busey Bank grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,487 shares during the period. Busey Bank’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $12,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the second quarter worth $328,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.1% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 8,390 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% in the second quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 45,141 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $59.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $119.88 billion, a PE ratio of -16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.56 and a 200 day moving average of $52.97. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $61.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -69.08%.

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.