Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BMY. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Societe Generale cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Redburn Atlantic cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $61.12.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE:BMY opened at $48.51 on Monday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $47.58 and a one year high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $98.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.69.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.18%.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 5,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 4,824 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,931 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 8,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 1,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.