Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Sells 11,351 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 42.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,351 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:BMY opened at $53.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $107.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.73 and a 200 day moving average of $52.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $47.58 and a 1-year high of $71.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BMY. StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Redburn Atlantic cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Societe Generale lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.12.

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.