Pfizer’s (PFE) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $45.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pfizer from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $34.54.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $29.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.33 and its 200 day moving average is $28.19. The company has a market capitalization of $168.58 billion, a PE ratio of -495.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.68. Pfizer has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $34.11.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after purchasing an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Pfizer by 3.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after buying an additional 2,241,609 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Pfizer by 1.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,104,088 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $450,593,000 after acquiring an additional 290,760 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 3.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $417,561,000 after acquiring an additional 470,003 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,260,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $287,077,000 after acquiring an additional 238,850 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Company Profile

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.