South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stock Holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb Company $BMY

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its position in Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) by 49.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 170,538 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb were worth $10,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bristol Myers Squibb by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,727,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,719,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743,759 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 97,980,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,285,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,206 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bristol Myers Squibb by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,638,346 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,837,026,000 after acquiring an additional 6,084,046 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at $1,947,272,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 172.6% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,796,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,391,485,000 after buying an additional 16,332,924 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bristol Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $63.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.22. Bristol Myers Squibb Company has a 52-week low of $42.52 and a 52-week high of $64.96.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $11.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.93 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 64.87% and a net margin of 15.01%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol Myers Squibb Company will post 6.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Bristol Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.25.

Bristol Myers Squibb Profile

Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, focused on discovering, developing and delivering medicines for serious diseases. The company’s core activities include research and development, clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of prescription pharmaceuticals across multiple therapeutic areas. BMS concentrates on advancing therapies in oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease and specialty areas through both small molecules and biologics.

BMS’s marketed portfolio and late?stage pipeline reflect a strong emphasis on cancer and immune?mediated conditions.