Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 32,431 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 245,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 32,431 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $13,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,743,262,000 after buying an additional 1,373,209 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,806,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,214 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,204,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,228,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036,495 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,733,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,398,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,681,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $264,760,000 after purchasing an additional 27,232 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,823 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned 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 an average price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY opened at $60.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.96 billion, a PE ratio of -13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $63.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -56.11%.

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.