Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Up 0.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shot up 0.6% during trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $30.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Pfizer traded as high as $29.23 and last traded at $28.53. 18,986,455 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 39,873,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.35.

PFE has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus lowered Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 52,350.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 304.9% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 100.0% during the first quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.72. The firm has a market cap of $162.40 billion, a PE ratio of -477.59, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

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.