Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Up 2.9% on Earnings Beat

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shares shot up 2.9% during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $26.69 and last traded at $26.62. 16,131,474 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 37,015,211 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.87.

The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 232.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFE. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $149.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.79.

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.