Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Short Interest Update

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,660,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the November 30th total of 25,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meridian Management Co. grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 28,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $56.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $61.08.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $11.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. 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 -69.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BMY. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa America raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.64.

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.