Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $24.61 and last traded at $25.01. 12,092,606 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 38,933,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.90. The firm has a market cap of $141.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285,276 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,190,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $2,328,986,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.