Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Up 0.5% - Time to Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $26.85 and last traded at $26.70. 8,220,099 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 38,787,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock 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. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.14.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $150.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $26.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.11.

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Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer's revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.46%. This is an increase from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer's payout ratio is 232.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Pfizer by 279.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $150,481,000 after buying an additional 8,378,173 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake 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 worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.