Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Lowers Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 9,137 shares during the quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,743,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373,209 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,391,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,505,967,000 after buying an additional 1,187,231 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,989,525,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,733,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,398,948,000 after buying an additional 1,482,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,437,390 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $929,699,000 after purchasing an additional 242,186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.67.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE:BMY opened at $53.80 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.07 and a 200-day moving average of $56.73. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $39.35 and a twelve month high of $63.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.11%.

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.