River Road Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 358,076 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,526 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $18,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,873,696,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,292,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,467,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,158 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,544,751,000 after buying an additional 21,451,006 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,606,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $905,806,000 after buying an additional 1,240,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,005,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $803,730,000 after buying an additional 197,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.5 %

BMY opened at $48.10 on Thursday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $47.58 and a one year high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMY. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Redburn Atlantic lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.