Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Given New $52.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BMY. Societe Generale lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $61.18.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $48.30 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.57. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $47.58 and a 52-week high of $70.93. The firm has a market cap of $97.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is 62.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 64.3% during the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 23,719 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 9,284 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 88,135.3% during the first quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 45,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 44,949 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 208.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,924,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $104,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,400 shares during the last quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 9,667 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 3,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 22,605 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 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.