Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s share price fell 1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $27.83 and last traded at $28.0050. 29,931,103 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 41,855,605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.30.

Pfizer News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s XFG-adapted 2026–2027 COMIRNATY vaccine for adults 65 and older and people ages 5–64 with underlying conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19. Shipments to U.S. pharmacies, hospitals and clinics are beginning immediately, supporting seasonal vaccine revenue and confirming Pfizer’s continuing role in infectious-disease prevention. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer and Valneva’s Lyme disease vaccine candidate, PF-07307405, reached an additional regulatory milestone after its European Marketing Authorization Application was validated. If approved, the product could help diversify Pfizer’s vaccine portfolio beyond COVID-19. Pfizer COVID and Lyme vaccine milestones article
• Neutral Sentiment: Pfizer announced several clinical-development updates, including an early-stage autoimmune trial for PF-08154225, a Phase 1 study evaluating easier injection delivery for tilrekimig, a tucatinib continuation study and a post-marketing Xalkori study. These programs may strengthen the pipeline, but they remain too early or incremental to affect near-term valuation. Pfizer pipeline update
• Negative Sentiment: The updated COVID vaccine is aimed at older and high-risk patients, creating a substantially smaller addressable market than broad-based vaccination campaigns. That limits the likely revenue lift even though approval and immediate distribution are favorable developments. Pfizer updated COVID shot article
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s failed colorectal-cancer vaccine trial pressured sentiment across the mRNA sector. Pfizer was relatively insulated because the setback involves BioNTech’s oncology program rather than a Pfizer-specific clinical failure, but the broader result reinforces investor concerns about the limits of mRNA technology outside infectious disease. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary continues to question Pfizer’s dividend sustainability because its payout ratio exceeds 100% and much of the turnaround case depends on cost reductions and growth targets that do not begin meaningfully until later in the decade. These concerns can cap enthusiasm despite Pfizer trading near its 52-week high.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PFE shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.28.

Pfizer Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78 and a beta of 0.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 226.32%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,670,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,754,464,000 after buying an additional 31,412,883 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 300,445,164 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,481,085,000 after buying an additional 1,357,756 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2,320.6% during the second 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 130,192,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,235,642,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Pfizer by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,218,929,000 after acquiring an additional 14,342,946 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Company Profile

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.