Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PFE. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pfizer from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. HSBC cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Pfizer from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.28.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.1%

Pfizer stock opened at $28.42 on Friday. Pfizer has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $29.21. The company has a market cap of $161.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Pfizer will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 226.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Pfizer by 2,320.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 217,981,455 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,248,993,000 after buying an additional 208,976,273 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,830,986,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,049,602,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,670,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,754,464,000 after acquiring an additional 31,412,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,218,929,000 after purchasing an additional 14,342,946 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.