ING Groep NV Sells 567,623 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 54.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 467,030 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 567,623 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $26,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1,168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BMY. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Leerink Partners upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of BMY stock opened at $55.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.62, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

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.