Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Down 0.7% – Here’s What Happened

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) fell 0.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $26.02 and last traded at $26.09. 9,528,568 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 36,541,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFE. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

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

Pfizer Company Profile

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.