Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Up 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s share price rose 1.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $27.24 and last traded at $27.02. Approximately 15,767,046 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 39,205,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.30 and a 200 day moving average of $27.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PFE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares during the last quarter. Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $274,694,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

About Pfizer

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.