Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 950 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE:BMY traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $43.67. 11,895,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,740,913. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $43.33 and a 52 week high of $69.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.53) by $0.13. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a positive return on equity of 8.83%. The business had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -77.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Societe Generale downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

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.