Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Stock Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 515,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 122,924 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $29,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 5,697 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at $12,343,000. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 18,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 12,145 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other 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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,395,499.03. This represents a 3.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

BMY stock opened at $56.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.30 billion, a PE ratio of -15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.45. 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 has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.82.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BMY shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.27.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 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.