Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 1,308 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,033 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,308 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 610,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,618,000 after acquiring an additional 39,419 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,139,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $162,440,000 after purchasing an additional 28,427 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 12.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 64,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,321,000 after purchasing an additional 7,245 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.7% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,108 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.7% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 63,211 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $57.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.48. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $39.35 and a 52-week high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb 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.