ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $952,000 Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,214 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BMY. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 759 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $53.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $108.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.22, a PEG ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.10 and a 200 day moving average of $46.37. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $57.65.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 12.51% and a negative net margin of 14.06%. The business had revenue of $12.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -77.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BMY. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.20.

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.