Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 25,473 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 56.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,024 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 25,473 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BMY. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,292,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,467,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,158 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,606,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $905,806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,902 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 5,594,092 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $287,033,000 after buying an additional 172,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 13.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,924,194 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $285,800,000 after acquiring an additional 596,625 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $43.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $43.33 and a fifty-two week high of $69.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.37 and a 200 day moving average of $50.65.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.53) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.45 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 8.83% and a negative net margin of 13.50%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -77.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.