Analyst Update: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Green Dot, Sirius XM

Analysts are weighing in today on pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY), prepaid debit card provider Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT), and satellite radio concern Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on BMY, GDOT, and SIRI.

• Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved BMY's lung cancer drug Opdivo. Additionally, the company announced a new licensing agreement with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic. These two fundamental developments may have been what prompted J.P. Morgan Securities and Credit Suisse to hike their price targets on the stock to $75 and $70, respectively. Additionally, both firms reiterated "overweight" or equivalent ratings. So far today, the shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co have tacked on 0.4% to trade at $65.96, and earlier hit a 14-year high of $67.18. Year-to-date, the equity is up about 11.8%, however, the brokerage bunch is still divided on BMY, as nearly half of covering analysts rate the stock a "hold" or worse. What's more, BMY's consensus 12-month price target of $64.31 sits below current trading levels, leaving the door wide open for another round of bullish analyst attention to provide tailwinds.


• This morning, Credit Suisse upwardly revised its outlook on GDOT, raising its price target on the security by $6 to $25 and its rating to "outperform" from "neutral." What's more, the brokerage firm named GDOT its top small-cap pick for 2015, citing strong earnings expectations. In response, the shares are up 7.1% today to reach $16.98. However, the stock has been a technical underperformer lately, as the shares are down 17.1% year-to-date. Not surprisingly, short sellers have been active on the stock, as over 11% of Green Dot Corporation's available float is sold short. Meanwhile, it would take these bearish investors nearly four sessions to cover their bets, at average daily trading volumes.


• Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on SIRI this morning, doling out a $4 price target and a tepid "hold" rating. Looking back, the shares are up about 12% year-to-date, despite a 0.5% loss so far today that has SIRI churning near $3.92. Furthermore, the shares notched an annual high of $4.04 on Tuesday -- good news for this recent batch of option bulls. In fact, sentiment in Sirius XM Holdings Inc.'s options pits is decidedly bullish, as its 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 24.14 sits just 10 percentage points away from an annual peak. Simply stated, calls have been bought to open at a near-annual-high clip over the past two weeks.