Chilton Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,830 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter valued at $332,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 57,444 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 1st quarter worth $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,725,000 after purchasing an additional 68,018 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.23. 14,348,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,769,094. The company has a market cap of $109.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $47.58 and a 52-week high of $71.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BMY. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.12.

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.