Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shot up 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $25.58 and last traded at $25.66. 6,768,297 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 37,329,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PFE. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.58. The stock has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Pfizer by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,709,000 after buying an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Pfizer by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 639,985 shares during the period. 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.