Stephens Inc. AR Sells 12,938 Shares of Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY)

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,456 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 12,938 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb were worth $9,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 4,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bristol Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bristol Myers Squibb by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 680,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,508,000 after purchasing an additional 234,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 4,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 83,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,973,548.54. This trade represents a 5.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BMY. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Bristol Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Bristol Myers Squibb to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.69.

Bristol Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE:BMY traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $48.07. The company had a trading volume of 16,469,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,799,975. Bristol Myers Squibb Company has a 52-week low of $41.61 and a 52-week high of $63.33. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $47.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.00. The company has a market capitalization of $97.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Bristol Myers Squibb had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 87.62%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($4.40) earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bristol Myers Squibb Company will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Bristol Myers Squibb's dividend 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.