Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Short Interest Down 5.7% in March

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 35,120,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 37,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opinicus Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 13,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 5,319 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 10,556 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 50,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after buying an additional 4,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.26. 11,931,277 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,940,481. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.62. 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 capitalization of $97.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $47.58 and a twelve month high of $70.93.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently 62.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.12.

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.