Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Purchases 422,804 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 707.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 482,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 422,804 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $27,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 42,435 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 10,796 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $570,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 18,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 2,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,796 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY opened at $47.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The company has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $63.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.94.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.77 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($4.40) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 4,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $47.58 per share, for a total transaction of $202,215.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,973,548.54. This trade represents a 5.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.00.

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.