Bristol-Myers Squibb Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 46,473 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 61% compared to the typical volume of 28,883 call options.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.6 %

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $58.25 on Wednesday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.56. The firm has a market cap of $118.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.11%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought 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 represents a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,597,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $90,335,000 after purchasing an additional 60,365 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at about $488,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 39.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 103,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,355,000 after buying an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,305,000 after acquiring an additional 11,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BMY. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of 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. Daiwa America raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

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.