Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,743,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373,209 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,806,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451,214 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,866,624 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,593,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 4,275,787 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $59.94. 9,967,207 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,160,088. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.64 billion, a PE ratio of -13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $63.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

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.