Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Acquires 4,041 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,843 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after buying an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $488,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,305,000 after buying an additional 11,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 81.3% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,775 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,972,000 after buying an additional 34,418 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BMY. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.60.

Insider Activity

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $58.86 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.19. The company has a market capitalization of $119.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.08%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb 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.