Short Interest in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Expands By 10.0%

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,770,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the October 31st total of 23,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after acquiring an additional 29,044 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 260,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,462,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,258,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 85.0% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 159,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,262,000 after acquiring an additional 73,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,724,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BMY shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BMY traded up $0.72 on Monday, hitting $59.94. The stock had a trading volume of 9,031,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,237,022. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $121.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 0.44. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.27.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -66.85%.

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.