Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) Short Interest Down 5.7% in March

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 35,120,000 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 37,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Down 0.5 %

BMY traded down $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,931,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,940,481. The stock has a market cap of $97.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.62. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $47.58 and a twelve month high of $70.93.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

Institutional Trading of Bristol-Myers Squibb

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opinicus Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 13,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,319 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 10,556 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 50,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 4,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Societe Generale lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Redburn Atlantic lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.12.

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.