First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 406,458 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 11,072 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $22,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.9% in the third 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 period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 28,427 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,245 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9.5% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 39,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,020,000 after acquiring an additional 3,399 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 22.3% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,224 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

BMY opened at $55.85 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $113.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.63, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $39.35 and a 52-week high of $61.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.35.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BMY shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.86.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% 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 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.