Freedom Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 51.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,806 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 6,040 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,597,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after purchasing an additional 60,365 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth approximately $488,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 78,690 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,451,000 after acquiring an additional 9,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth approximately $474,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY opened at $49.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.64. The company has a market cap of $100.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $63.33.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -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.