Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 53,817 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the typical volume of 39,409 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,203,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,807,153,000 after purchasing an additional 8,675,322 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 225,197 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,225,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $839,946,000 after acquiring an additional 735,613 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 14,600,621 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $606,364,000 after acquiring an additional 556,295 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 14,134,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $586,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,424 shares in the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BMY. Barclays raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:BMY opened at $50.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.41. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $58.46. The firm has a market cap of $103.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.42, a PEG ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.46.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $12.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.54 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a negative net margin of 14.06% and a positive return on equity of 12.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio is -77.42%.

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.