Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $25.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.57. The company has a market cap of $145.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 26,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 7.3% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 58,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.