Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shares were down 0.4% on Wednesday after Guggenheim lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $33.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Pfizer traded as low as $25.32 and last traded at $25.47. Approximately 9,291,981 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 38,400,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.57.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PFE. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 186,650 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,402,000 after acquiring an additional 4,887 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at $577,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 580,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,801,000 after purchasing an additional 15,160 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 92,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 14,891 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in Pfizer by 23.9% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 762,976 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,082,000 after buying an additional 147,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.33. The company has a market capitalization of $143.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

About Pfizer

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.