Howard Capital Management Group LLC Makes New Investment in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 3,455 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth $25,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1,168.1% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $57.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $115.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.88, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of several research reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.27.

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.