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

Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 180,226 call options on the company. This is an increase of 304% compared to the average volume of 44,579 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMY. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bristol Myers Squibb from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $53.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.62.

Bristol Myers Squibb Trading Down 0.5%

BMY traded down $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.93. 7,841,763 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,048,923. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Bristol Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $42.52 and a 1 year high of $63.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.39. The firm has a market cap of $109.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.29.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Bristol Myers Squibb had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 76.53%. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Bristol Myers Squibb has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.400-6.600 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bristol Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Bristol Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Bristol Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio is 83.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New England Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Bristol Myers Squibb by 0.8% in the first quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 59,183 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bristol Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,554,154,000. Wealth Quarterback LLC grew its position in Bristol Myers Squibb by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 25,443 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 7,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Bristol Myers Squibb by 438.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 307,849 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,250,000 after purchasing an additional 250,624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.41% of the company’s stock.

Bristol Myers Squibb Company Profile

Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, focused on discovering, developing and delivering medicines for serious diseases. The company’s core activities include research and development, clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of prescription pharmaceuticals across multiple therapeutic areas. BMS concentrates on advancing therapies in oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease and specialty areas through both small molecules and biologics.

BMS’s marketed portfolio and late‑stage pipeline reflect a strong emphasis on cancer and immune‑mediated conditions.