Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 581,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 116,513 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $32,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth about $1,989,525,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3,880.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,977,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,827,317 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth approximately $257,618,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 11,413,428 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $639,837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,787,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,733,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,398,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482,410 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.4 %

BMY opened at $53.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $63.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.17, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently -56.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BMY shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.67.

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.