Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,677 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the second quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,970 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,093,000 after acquiring an additional 148,588 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 118.5% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 274,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,410,000 after acquiring an additional 148,973 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 87.9% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 18,943 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the second quarter valued at $151,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.27.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $60.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 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.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

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.