Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading 0.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shot up 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $26.85 and last traded at $26.70. 8,220,099 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 38,787,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.14.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $150.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 66.5% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,824 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,360,000 after acquiring an additional 62,249 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 38,185 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 32,765 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 67,024 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after buying an additional 5,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 185,412 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,188,000 after buying an additional 2,284 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.