Investors Purchase High Volume of Bristol-Myers Squibb Call Options (NYSE:BMY)

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

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat acquired 1,823 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.84 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $1,989,525,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 32,079,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,814,341,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011,983 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 701.2% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 12,470,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $705,309,000 after acquiring an additional 10,913,708 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3,880.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,977,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $338,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,827,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,618,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Daiwa America raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of BMY traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $58.98. 5,947,649 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,808,461. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.03 and a 200-day moving average of $54.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.69 billion, a PE ratio of -13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $61.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is a boost from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s payout ratio 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.