Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 213,360 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 45% compared to the typical volume of 147,189 call options.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Pfizer from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 14th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Pfizer from $44.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.35.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $79,410.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,000 shares in the company, valued at $238,230. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFE. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $30,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 304.9% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 52,350.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Pfizer Trading Up 3.3 %
Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.94 on Tuesday, hitting $29.73. 57,577,340 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,745,932. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.17. The company has a market capitalization of $167.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.05. Pfizer has a one year low of $25.76 and a one year high of $51.60.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.72% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.77 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.
Pfizer Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 26th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.65%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 89.62%.
About Pfizer
Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women’s health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, 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.