Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Down 0.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $29.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Pfizer traded as low as $26.23 and last traded at $26.88. 9,896,990 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 30,847,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.13.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PFE. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $570,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 24.0% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 2,239 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 6.7% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,223,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,243,000 after acquiring an additional 76,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.3% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.05. The stock has a market cap of $152.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

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.