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

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 41,749 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical volume of 29,843 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,506,030.88. The trade was a 2.94 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMY. United Bank lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 17,322 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter valued at $2,961,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 10,919 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth about $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of BMY opened at $59.22 on Wednesday. The firm 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 stock has a market cap of $120.18 billion, a PE ratio of -13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last issued its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.