Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $6,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $488,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after purchasing an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,305,000 after buying an additional 11,387 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 81.3% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,775 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,972,000 after buying an additional 34,418 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of 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 reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $55.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 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. 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 50 day moving average price of $57.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.97.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.81%. Research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -56.11%.

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.