Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 41,749 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical volume of 29,843 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 28,679 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Edmp Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 41,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 9,423 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 5,690 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,538 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BMY. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BMY opened at $58.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $63.33. The company has a market cap of $119.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. Research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.11%.

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.