Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shares were up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $24.69 and last traded at $24.70. Approximately 8,969,546 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 39,089,397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PFE. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.2 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after buying an additional 2,285,276 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,328,986,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.