Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Up 0.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) rose 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $27.59 and last traded at $27.47. Approximately 9,234,457 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 37,312,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.58.

Pfizer Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $151.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.89 and a 200-day moving average of $28.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 141,435 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,093,000 after acquiring an additional 12,423 shares during the period. America First Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC now owns 650,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $18,818,000 after acquiring an additional 35,978 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 121,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,196 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,319,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after acquiring an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently 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.