Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 296,826 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 866% compared to the typical volume of 30,739 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BMY. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BMY opened at $56.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.82, a PEG ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $61.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $11.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 11.94% and a negative net margin of 15.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is presently -69.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. This trade represents a 3.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,091.20. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth $25,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1,168.1% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.