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

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 46,473 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 61% compared to the typical daily volume of 28,883 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMY. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth about $188,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth approximately $534,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,651,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BMY shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Leerink Partners upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 1.5 %

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $57.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.58. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $61.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is -56.11%.

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.