Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Down 0.6% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) traded down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $29.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Pfizer traded as low as $26.49 and last traded at $26.70. 12,423,858 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 34,381,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.86.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter worth $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.18 and its 200 day moving average is $27.91. The firm has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 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 paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. 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. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.03%.

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.