Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Stock Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,365,559 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,492 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $70,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $44.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,281,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,141,314. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $90.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.47, a PEG ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.14. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $44.34 and a 12-month high of $69.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.53) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.45 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a positive return on equity of 50.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently -77.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

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.