Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Up 1.9% – What’s Next?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was up 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.95 and last traded at $26.8040. Approximately 34,852,534 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 42,401,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.31.

Key Stories Impacting Pfizer

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Albert Bourla purchased approximately $1 million of Pfizer stock—about 38,000 shares—in his first open-market purchase of the company’s shares. The transaction may reassure investors that management views the current valuation as attractive. Pfizer CEO Buys $1 Million of Company Stock
• Positive Sentiment: The European Medicines Agency validated Pfizer and Valneva’s application for their six-valent Lyme disease vaccine candidate, PF-07307405, beginning the formal review process. The filing is supported by Phase 3 results showing more than 70% efficacy and no significant safety concerns. Validation is an important regulatory milestone, although it does not represent approval. Pfizer and Valneva’s Lyme Disease Vaccine Candidate Marketing Authorization Application Validated by European Medicines Agency
• Positive Sentiment: An updated Korean real-world study of Paxlovid highlighted continued potential value for high-risk COVID-19 patients, supporting Pfizer’s effort to maintain demand for its antiviral as COVID-related revenue normalizes. Pfizer’s Korean Paxlovid Study Signals Ongoing Value in High-Risk COVID Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its fiscal 2026 EPS forecast, adding modest analyst support. Pfizer’s broader investment case also continues to rely on its non-COVID portfolio, including positive Phase 3 LITFULO data and recently acquired products.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on Pfizer’s post-COVID revenue declines, recent intangible-asset impairments, and the discontinuation of its BEQVEZ hemophilia gene therapy, which underscore execution and pipeline risks. Gene Therapy Remains Top-of-Mind in Hemophilia

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.28.

Pfizer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.20.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.80%.The business had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 226.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,830,986,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted 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 worth $12,754,464,000 after purchasing an additional 31,412,883 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,218,929,000 after purchasing an additional 14,342,946 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Pfizer by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,514,971 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,208,023,000 after purchasing an additional 13,581,757 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 577.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,786,084 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $218,817,000 after buying an additional 7,489,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.