Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Pfizer Call Options (NYSE:PFE)

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 202,219 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 24% compared to the typical volume of 163,045 call options.

Pfizer Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.57. Pfizer has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

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

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at $243,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 35.2% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,586 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 6,921 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Pfizer by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 533,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,798,000 after buying an additional 295,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 710,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,714,000 after acquiring an additional 133,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

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.