Gries Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Gries Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 194.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,832 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $328,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 8,390 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 45,141 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.6 %

BMY opened at $59.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $119.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.46, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $61.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.97.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMY. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.60.

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.