Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading 0.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s share price rose 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.09 and last traded at $25.03. Approximately 11,312,564 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 38,214,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.2 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.55 and a 200 day moving average of $28.65. The firm has a market cap of $141.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Pfizer by 279.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the first quarter valued at $172,902,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at about $146,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.