Everence Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,360 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 17,420 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. State Street Corp increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,806,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,204,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,228,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $975,897,000 after purchasing an additional 225,197 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BMY shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of BMY traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.53. 2,170,009 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,521,126. 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 has a 52-week low of $39.35 and a 52-week high of $61.08. The company has a market cap of $114.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75, a PEG ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.79.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.08%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

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

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.