Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Down 2% – Here’s Why

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was down 2% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $28.83 and last traded at $28.8590. Approximately 30,714,089 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 39,816,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.45.

Latest Pfizer News

Here’s some of the latest news about PFE:

• Neutral Sentiment: An update to Pfizer’s Phase 1 MET-233 obesity study offered an early signal, but the report characterized the news as having limited likely impact on PFE shares at this stage. TipRanks article
• Negative Sentiment: Pfizer plans to stop selling Premarin hormone therapy in Canada, which could mean lost sales there; the revenue impact was not specified. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: A Pfizer Phase 2 kidney-cancer trial update reported that combination arms ended after limited enrollment, limiting the study’s contribution of clinical evidence. TipRanks article

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Pfizer from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Pfizer from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. DZ Bank cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Argus set a $40.00 price objective on Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.32.

Pfizer Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.23, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.31.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $16.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 6.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 245.71%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 6.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,670,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,754,464,000 after acquiring an additional 31,412,883 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 307,090,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,394,749,000 after purchasing an additional 5,501,032 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 53,879,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,948,000 after purchasing an additional 5,364,929 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,049,602,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,422,799 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,022,606,000 after purchasing an additional 293,029 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and vaccines. Its work spans areas including oncology, vaccines, internal medicine, inflammation and immunology, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. The company’s products include the Prevnar family of vaccines and medicines such as Eliquis, which it commercializes with Bristol Myers Squibb, and Paxlovid. Pfizer also developed the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine with BioNTech.