Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 73,587 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 597,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 73,587 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $30,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMY. State Street Corp increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,570,288 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,919,870,000 after buying an additional 858,922 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth about $1,873,696,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,292,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,467,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,158 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,544,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,606,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $905,806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,902 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $53.25 on Thursday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $47.58 and a 12-month high of $71.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.43. The company has a market capitalization of $107.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Societe Generale lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.12.

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.