Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by Zacks in a report issued on Wednesday. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the stock.
Zacks‘ analyst wrote, “Bristol-Myers’ fourth quarter 2012 adjusted earnings of $0.47 per share dipped 11% below the year-ago figure. Earnings were hurt primarily by the reduced sales of hypertension treatment Avapro/Avalide and blood-thinner Plavix, which went off-patent in the US in Mar 2012 and May 2012, respectively. Net sales in the quarter declined 23% to $4.2 billion, edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.1 billion. Even though the genericization of Plavix and Avapro has resulted in significant loss of revenues for Bristol-Myers, we believe that its diversified business model combined with its strong financial position will help in countering the headwinds. We maintain our Neutral stance on the stock with a target price of $40.00.”
Bristol Myers Squibb traded up 0.71% on Wednesday, hitting $38.49. Bristol Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $30.64 and a 52-week high of $38.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $36.70. The company has a market cap of $63.022 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95.
Bristol Myers Squibb last released its earnings data on Thursday, January 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Bristol Myers Squibb has set its FY13 guidance at $1.78-1.88 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bristol Myers Squibb will post $1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BMY. Analysts at William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note to investors on Tuesday, March 5th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note to investors on Tuesday, March 5th. They now have a $34.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Bank of America upgraded shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, March 4th.
Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, one has assigned an overweight rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, and one has assigned a sell rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “hold” and an average price target of $35.83.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is a global biopharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of biopharmaceutical products on a global basis.
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