Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 863,765 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,069,826 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 863,765 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.45% of Bristol-Myers Squibb worth $512,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Jmac Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 7,616 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 12,396 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth $389,000. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 33,155 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 4,787 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 0.4 %

BMY stock opened at $56.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.00. The company has a market cap of $113.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $61.10.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

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.