Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Trading Up 0.3% After Dividend Announcement

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shot up 0.3% on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $25.50 and last traded at $25.44. 6,839,970 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 38,396,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.37.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.29. The stock has a market cap of $144.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 61.7% in the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 50,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after buying an additional 5,136 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 52,430 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 18.6% in the second quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 23,322 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 3,652 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.