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

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 41,749 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 40% compared to the average daily volume of 29,843 put options.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,944,516 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,743,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373,209 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,806,469,000 after buying an additional 1,451,214 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,866,624 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,593,940,000 after buying an additional 3,218,865 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,940,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,325,227,000 after buying an additional 4,275,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,391,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,505,967,000 after buying an additional 1,187,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BMY shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $59.22 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.13. 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 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $63.33. The company has a market capitalization of $120.18 billion, a PE ratio of -13.40, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s 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.