Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 9,166 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,166 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,743,262,000 after buying an additional 1,373,209 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,866,624 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,593,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,865 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,391,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,505,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,231 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,989,525,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 32,079,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,814,341,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:BMY opened at $48.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $63.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.19.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.30. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($4.40) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price target (down from $67.00) on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

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

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

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.