Opinicus Capital Inc. Grows Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Opinicus Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,820 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,980 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,428 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at about $451,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $56.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $115.51 billion, a PE ratio of -15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $39.35 and a twelve month high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Daiwa America raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

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.