Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,375 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $8,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,830,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $401,806,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,360 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,965,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,405,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,292,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,467,989,000 after buying an additional 1,394,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,606,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $905,806,000 after buying an additional 1,240,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.85. 11,637,394 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,470,378. The company has a market capitalization of $99.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $47.58 and a 52-week high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.32.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly 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. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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 fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently 62.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BMY. StockNews.com cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.18.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 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.