Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an underweight rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.14.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $62.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.40 and a 200-day moving average of $65.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $59.71 and a fifty-two week high of $81.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 7th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently 60.64%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMY. Northwest Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.98% of the company’s stock.

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, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.