Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.8824.

PFE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 31st. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.68 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $146.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.47. Pfizer has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month high of $27.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.08. Pfizer had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 533,363,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,928,730,000 after purchasing an additional 10,198,330 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Pfizer by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,087,408 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,620,747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,098 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,270,157,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Pfizer by 1.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 64,019,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,631,225,000 after acquiring an additional 869,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.