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

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 30,570,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the February 13th total of 25,590,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 11,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BMY. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.98. The stock had a trading volume of 4,797,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,103,623. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $63.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.79.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently -56.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,989,525,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 32,079,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,814,341,000 after buying an additional 12,011,983 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 701.2% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 12,470,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $705,309,000 after buying an additional 10,913,708 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3,880.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,977,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,827,317 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth about $257,618,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

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.