Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $25.21 and last traded at $25.26. Approximately 9,179,062 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 38,366,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.65. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 92,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 14,891 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 762,976 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,082,000 after purchasing an additional 147,405 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 740,727 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,437,000 after purchasing an additional 78,675 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 190,628 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 22,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 74,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. 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.