Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s share price dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $25.72 and last traded at $25.77. Approximately 7,133,132 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 38,317,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFE. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $142.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.60 and a 200-day moving average of $28.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted 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 business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 19.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 92,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 14,891 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 762,976 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,082,000 after buying an additional 147,405 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 740,727 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,437,000 after buying an additional 78,675 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 190,628 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after buying an additional 22,068 shares during the period. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 74,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.