Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Price Down 2% – What’s Next?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) dropped 2% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $28.83 and last traded at $28.8590. 30,714,089 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 39,816,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.45.

Key Stories Impacting Pfizer

Here are a few of the latest stories about PFE:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone Life Sciences will fund up to $1.5 billion in development costs through 2028 for berobenatide, Pfizer’s investigational monthly GLP-1 drug for obesity and related conditions. The agreement supports development without Pfizer giving up control of the program, though Blackstone will receive milestone-based payments and a share of potential future economics. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: An update to Pfizer’s Phase 1 MET-233 obesity study offered an early signal, but the report characterized the news as having limited likely impact on PFE shares at this stage. TipRanks article
• Negative Sentiment: A Pfizer Phase 2 kidney-cancer trial update reported that combination arms ended after limited enrollment, limiting the study’s contribution of clinical evidence. TipRanks article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Argus set a $40.00 price target on Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.32.

Pfizer Trading Down 2.0%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.96. The stock has a market cap of $164.49 billion, a PE ratio of 41.23, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $16.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 6.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 245.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFE. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 19,322 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,009 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 13,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 0.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 46,503 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Equity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 22.9% in the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and vaccines. Its work spans areas including oncology, vaccines, internal medicine, inflammation and immunology, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. The company’s products include the Prevnar family of vaccines and medicines such as Eliquis, which it commercializes with Bristol Myers Squibb, and Paxlovid. Pfizer also developed the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine with BioNTech.