Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Trading Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) shares were up 0.5% on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $52.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Bristol-Myers Squibb traded as high as $48.20 and last traded at $48.10. Approximately 2,345,663 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 15,664,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.84.

BMY has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BMY. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $97.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.57.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

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.