Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Leerink Partners currently has $73.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $55.00.

BMY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.16. 1,089,516 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,372,343. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08. The company has a market cap of $115.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.15. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -66.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

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

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $936,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,924,000. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.4% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 225,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,677,000 after purchasing an additional 7,463 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,668,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth $5,962,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.