Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 on March 7th

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the biopharmaceutical company on Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Pfizer has raised its dividend by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Pfizer has a payout ratio of 58.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Pfizer to earn $2.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.1%.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $25.58 on Friday. Pfizer has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $144.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.27.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on PFE shares. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.