Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 1,105 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,208 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% in 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. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1,168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares in the company, valued at $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BMY. Citigroup increased their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.27.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE BMY opened at $55.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $112.26 billion, a PE ratio of -15.42, a PEG ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $61.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 15.30% and a positive return on equity of 11.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.08%.

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.