Next Level Private LLC Has $2.99 Million Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Next Level Private LLC boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,223 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,412 shares during the period. Bristol-Myers Squibb accounts for 1.7% of Next Level Private LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth about $1,873,696,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,544,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451,006 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,830,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $401,806,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,360 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth about $86,965,000. Finally, Cowa LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9,777.8% during the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,657,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Societe Generale cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.12.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of BMY stock opened at $53.25 on Thursday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $47.58 and a 1 year high of $71.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.73 and its 200-day moving average is $52.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

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.