Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Holdings Decreased by West Oak Capital LLC

West Oak Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $53.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,101,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,669,156. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $47.58 and a fifty-two week high of $71.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $109.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.