Hills Bank & Trust Co Lowers Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,230 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock remained flat at $44.74 during mid-day trading on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,275,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,559,692. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.69 billion, a PE ratio of -14.45, a PEG ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $43.33 and a fifty-two week high of $69.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.53) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.45 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a positive return on equity of 8.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BMY. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Societe Generale downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.