Pfizer’s (PFE) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target suggests a potential upside of 67.04% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on PFE. Argus lowered shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.86.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.94. The stock had a trading volume of 17,967,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,302,227. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.76. Pfizer has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $39.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -448.93, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The company had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,129,927,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Pfizer by 4.9% in 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 in the last quarter. 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 worth $2,985,783,000 after buying an additional 8,473,686 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Pfizer by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after buying an additional 8,298,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the 1st quarter worth approximately $172,902,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

About Pfizer

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.