Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Up 0.1% - Here's Why

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.08 and last traded at $25.92. 6,681,545 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 37,093,660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $26.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $149.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. Pfizer's revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 394.2% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Pfizer by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 639,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

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.