Empirical Finance LLC Increases Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,242 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,429 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $4,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 748,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,462,000 after purchasing an additional 367,044 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 223,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,988,000 after buying an additional 22,610 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 300.5% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 737 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.46. 16,638,412 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,691,138. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $65.38. The firm has a market cap of $82.02 billion, a PE ratio of -13.15, a PEG ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.53) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.45 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a positive return on equity of 8.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.93%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.50.

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.