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

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 296,826 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 866% compared to the typical volume of 30,739 call options.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $56.57 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.04 and its 200-day moving average is $50.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.73 billion, a PE ratio of -15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $61.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

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

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -69.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BMY. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Phil M. Holzer sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $38,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,091.20. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samit Hirawat purchased 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, for a total transaction of $100,046.10. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 62,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,395,499.03. The trade was a 3.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,896,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,806,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,030,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,157,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,729 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,204,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,228,425,000 after buying an additional 1,036,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,498,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $975,897,000 after buying an additional 225,197 shares during the period. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.