Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Down 0.6% After Analyst Downgrade

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $29.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Pfizer traded as low as $26.49 and last traded at $26.70. 12,423,858 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 34,381,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.86.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PFE. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $150.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.27 and a 200-day moving average of $27.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. This is an increase from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer's payout ratio is presently 232.44%.

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.