Empowered Funds LLC Sells 5,331 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,331 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $975,897,000 after purchasing an additional 225,197 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,225,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $839,946,000 after buying an additional 735,613 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.0% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 14,600,621 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $606,364,000 after acquiring an additional 556,295 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 14,134,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $586,999,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,547,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $680,469,000 after purchasing an additional 5,461,767 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $57.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.54. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.12, a PEG ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.44.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -66.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMY. Barclays lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.07.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 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.