Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $70.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $63.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE:BMY opened at $56.84 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $39.35 and a twelve month high of $61.08. The stock has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.68.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -69.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMY. Meridian Management Co. increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 28,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.