Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $3.78 Million Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,752 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,042 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 420.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,241,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $219,443,000 after purchasing an additional 3,425,789 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 695.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,554,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $183,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107,672 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 19,074,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $986,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002,418 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.6 %

BMY opened at $59.52 on Wednesday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $61.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.23 and a 200-day moving average of $54.93.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -56.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

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.