First Merchants Corp Decreases Stake in Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY)

First Merchants Corp lowered its position in Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY - Free Report) by 87.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 27,047 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,743,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373,209 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,866,624 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,593,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,865 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,391,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,505,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,231 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bristol Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,989,525,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 32,079,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,814,341,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 price objective (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 4,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $47.58 per share, for a total transaction of $202,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,973,548.54. This trade represents a 5.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Bristol Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $46.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $47.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.94. Bristol Myers Squibb Company has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $63.33.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.77 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 87.62%. Bristol Myers Squibb's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($4.40) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bristol Myers Squibb Company will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. Bristol Myers Squibb's payout ratio is currently 92.88%.

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.

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