Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 43,898 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average volume of 30,728 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bristol Myers Squibb from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Bristol Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Daiwa America cut Bristol Myers Squibb from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Bristol Myers Squibb from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.38.

Bristol Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of Bristol Myers Squibb stock opened at $47.39 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.85. Bristol Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $42.96 and a 12 month high of $63.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.39. Bristol Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 80.04% and a net margin of 10.58%.The business had revenue of $12.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Bristol Myers Squibb has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.350-6.650 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bristol Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Bristol Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Bristol Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP David V. Elkins sold 56,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.33, for a total value of $2,650,480.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,379 shares in the company, valued at $7,922,048.07. This represents a 25.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol Myers Squibb

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 202.8% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 639 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

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.