Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading 1.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) traded up 1.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.53 and last traded at $24.52. 39,866,228 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 46,863,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.13.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.11. The company has a market cap of $139.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.55.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.20. Pfizer had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.49%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Curio Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 36,600.0% during the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Pfizer during the first quarter worth $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Pfizer during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in Pfizer during the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.