Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Trading 1.4% Higher After Strong Earnings

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)’s share price was up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $45.34 and last traded at $45.33. Approximately 5,111,179 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 15,762,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.70.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.53) by $0.13. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The company had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BMY shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.71.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth $1,560,524,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 792.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,030,939 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $206,828,000 after buying an additional 3,579,324 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,534,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,207,549,000 after buying an additional 2,998,228 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,540,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,357,199 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $480,118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $91.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

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.