Austin Private Wealth LLC Purchases 994 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,643 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMY. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth about $25,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of BMY stock traded up $0.98 on Thursday, hitting $54.23. 14,346,012 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,860,898. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $47.58 and a one year high of $71.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The firm had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BMY shares. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.12.

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.