Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Up 2% – Should You Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shares shot up 2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $28.58 and last traded at $28.5280. Approximately 30,909,403 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 41,964,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Pfizer from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. HSBC lowered Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.28.

Pfizer Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.54 and a beta of 0.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.80%.The company had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 226.32%.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFE. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 6.3% during the 2nd 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 300,445,164 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,481,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,756 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2,320.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 217,981,455 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,248,993,000 after acquiring an additional 208,976,273 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 130,192,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,235,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,218,929,000 after purchasing an additional 14,342,946 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.