Pfizer Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PFE)

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 190,700 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 24% compared to the typical volume of 153,947 put options.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 26,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 7.3% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 2.5% during the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 58,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of Pfizer stock traded down $1.22 on Friday, reaching $24.80. 131,074,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,229,605. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.64 and a 200 day moving average of $28.64. Pfizer has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $140.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFE. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

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.