Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Up 0.8% - Time to Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $26.85 and last traded at $26.83. 6,586,845 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 34,381,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.90. The firm has a market cap of $152.41 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share 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 given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. This is an increase from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer's payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Pfizer by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 394.2% during the third 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 boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently 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.

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