Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stock Position in Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,318,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 88,683 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.06% of Bristol Myers Squibb worth $80,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMY. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 0.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Bristol Myers Squibb by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,866,624 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,593,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,865 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bristol Myers Squibb by 2.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,187,231 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth about $1,989,525,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Bristol Myers Squibb by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 32,079,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,814,341,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011,983 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BMY. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Bristol Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Bristol Myers Squibb from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Bristol Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of BMY stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.87. The company had a trading volume of 47,283,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,081,197. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The stock's 50-day moving average is $48.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol Myers Squibb Company has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $63.33.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.77 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 87.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($4.40) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bristol Myers Squibb Company will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Bristol Myers Squibb's payout ratio is currently 92.88%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 4,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $47.58 per share, for a total transaction of $202,215.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,973,548.54. The trade was a 5.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.