Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Short Interest Update

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,660,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the November 30th total of 25,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 11,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded up $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.56. The stock had a trading volume of 7,344,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,999,770. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.75.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.08%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

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

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275,787 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,546,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $313,398,000 after buying an additional 3,495,704 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 420.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,241,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $219,443,000 after acquiring an additional 3,425,789 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 695.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,554,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $183,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,107,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 19,074,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $986,931,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002,418 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BMY shares. Leerink Partners raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.64.

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.