Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Down 0.5%

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s share price was down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.04 and last traded at $26.18. Approximately 6,291,521 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 41,648,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective 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 Monday, April 15th. Argus lowered Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Pfizer Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $143.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.17, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.48.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.29. Pfizer had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 466.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Pfizer by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after buying an additional 11,099,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after purchasing an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Pfizer by 0.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,817,055,000 after acquiring an additional 348,628 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,129,927,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,972,300,000 after buying an additional 8,298,920 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.