Nepsis Inc. Decreases Position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Nepsis Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 31,894 shares during the period. Bristol-Myers Squibb accounts for about 3.0% of Nepsis Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Nepsis Inc.’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $10,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,873,696,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,544,751,000 after buying an additional 21,451,006 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,830,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $401,806,000 after buying an additional 2,540,360 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,965,000. Finally, Cowa LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9,777.8% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,657,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 1,641,110 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,223,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,905,383. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $107.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $47.58 and a 1-year high of $71.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.43.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the biopharmaceutical company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is 62.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on BMY shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report 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 report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.12.

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.