Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.14.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.3 %

Pfizer stock opened at $26.61 on Friday. Pfizer has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.07.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Pfizer will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 232.43%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 227,349 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.