Vestcor Inc Reduces Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Vestcor Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Free Report) by 46.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,827 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 34,283 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 17,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 5,143 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 58.6% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,190 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,565,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $100,046.10. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.29.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $56.28. The stock had a trading volume of 12,118,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,062,190. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $39.35 and a 52-week high of $61.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.78 and a 200 day moving average of $49.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $114.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.31. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -66.85%.

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.