Short Interest in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Decreases By 19.8%

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 73,570,000 shares, a drop of 19.8% from the January 15th total of 91,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 43,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PFE stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.50. 33,055,417 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,577,760. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.56. Pfizer has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Pfizer will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285,276 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after buying an additional 2,923,537 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth $2,328,986,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.