Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Down 0.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 0.9% on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $29.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Pfizer traded as low as $26.23 and last traded at $26.88. Approximately 9,896,990 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 30,847,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.13.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PFE. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 3.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 326,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,144,000 after buying an additional 11,246 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 7.0% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 14,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the second quarter valued at $570,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 190.9% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 77,307 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 50,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.06. The company has a market capitalization of $152.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company's revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer's payout ratio is 232.43%.

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.