Morgan Stanley Raises Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Price Target to $29.00

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

PFE has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $36.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Argus downgraded shares of Pfizer from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Pfizer from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.00.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.81. 60,568,852 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,900,304. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average of $28.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Pfizer has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $40.37. The stock has a market cap of $157.48 billion, a PE ratio of -463.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.58% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,799.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Pfizer by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after buying an additional 11,099,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,985,783,000 after acquiring an additional 8,473,686 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Pfizer by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,817,055,000 after purchasing an additional 348,628 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,129,927,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.