Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s stock price rose 1.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.73 and last traded at $24.6750. Approximately 132,503,993 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 178% from the average daily volume of 47,622,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.24.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $140.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.77 and its 200-day moving average is $24.28.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.20. Pfizer had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 16.84%.The company had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.49%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,413,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,817,000 after purchasing an additional 17,032 shares during the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Pfizer in the first quarter valued at $2,411,000. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 90.8% during the second quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at $49,968,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 3.8% during the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,127,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,322,000 after acquiring an additional 41,263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.