Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shares were down 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $24.20 and last traded at $24.3150. Approximately 163,587,334 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 237% from the average daily volume of 48,570,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on PFE shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.24.

Pfizer Trading Down 1.4%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $138.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.55.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.08. Pfizer had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $16.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.94 billion. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.150 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued 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 yield of 7.1%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 91.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 533,363,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,928,730,000 after buying an additional 10,198,330 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 127,471,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,080,552,000 after buying an additional 1,820,634 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter worth $2,270,157,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 6.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 62,325,957 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,579,340,000 after buying an additional 3,943,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 43.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 52,090,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,265,277,000 after buying an additional 15,758,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.