Pfizer Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PFE)

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 190,700 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 24% compared to the typical daily volume of 153,947 put options.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.2% during the third quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 58,138 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 23.3% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 62,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 11,867 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 1,399.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 240,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,953,000 after acquiring an additional 224,240 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter worth about $1,839,000. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter worth about $2,681,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.69. The company had a trading volume of 7,016,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,672,426. 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 capitalization of $139.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $31.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Pfizer will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

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.