Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Pfizer from “buy” to “hold,” aligning with the broader consensus rating of “Hold.” Analysts have issued mixed views, with five Buys, fourteen Holds and two Sells, and an average price target of $28.72.
• Pfizer shares rose 1.6% to open at $28.27, near the upper end of their 52-week range. The company recently beat quarterly estimates, reporting $0.77 in earnings per share and $15.03 billion in revenue.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 68.36%. Major investors including BlackRock, State Street and Bank of New York Mellon increased their Pfizer holdings during recent reporting periods.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.72.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.6%

PFE stock opened at $28.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $27.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.50. Pfizer has a 1-year low of $23.62 and a 1-year high of $29.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.14 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.32.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Pfizer had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFE. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 6.3% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,670,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $12,754,464,000 after acquiring an additional 31,412,883 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 300,445,164 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,481,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,756 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 11.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 53,879,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,512,948,000 after acquiring an additional 5,364,929 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter worth about $1,049,602,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,422,799 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,022,606,000 after buying an additional 293,029 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support improved: JPMorgan raised its price target from $28 to $30 while maintaining a neutral rating, and Jefferies issued a buy rating. Cantor Fitzgerald also increased its target to $28, signaling some potential downside protection at current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: TUKYSA approval expands Pfizer’s oncology opportunity: The FDA approved TUKYSA in combination with trastuzumab and pertuzumab as a chemotherapy-free frontline maintenance treatment for certain patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Moving the drug into an earlier line of treatment could broaden its commercial reach. FDA Backs Pfizer’s TUKYSA Combination
• Positive Sentiment: Pipeline progress adds longer-term support: Pfizer’s Phase 3 trial of tilrekimig, an asthma candidate, is advancing. Investors are also focused on oncology sales, biosimilars and the late-stage pipeline ahead of quarterly results. Tilrekimig Phase 3 Trial Update
• Positive Sentiment: Income and valuation appeal remain catalysts: Pfizer’s dividend announcement, roughly 6% yield and valuation below many large pharmaceutical peers continue to attract income and value-oriented investors. The company also has a history of earnings beats, with its latest reported quarter exceeding consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is elevated: Pfizer was among heavily searched stocks, while broader biotechnology interest was helped by Moderna’s Nasdaq-100 inclusion. These factors may increase trading activity but do not directly change Pfizer’s fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: High yield raises risk concerns: Commentary warns that Pfizer’s unusually large dividend yield may reflect investor doubts about earnings, cash flow, debt and the durability of the payout. Sluggish revenue growth, a thin net margin and relatively low return on equity reinforce those concerns. Pfizer Dividend Yield Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Cost-cutting highlights operational pressure: Pfizer plans to close a penicillin unit in Italy and eliminate about 330 jobs, underscoring efforts to improve efficiency amid a challenging growth outlook. Pfizer Italy Penicillin Unit Closure

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc NYSE: PFE is a global biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and vaccines. Its research and commercial activities focus on areas including oncology, inflammation and immunology, internal medicine, hospital care and vaccines.

The company's portfolio includes widely used products such as the Prevnar family of pneumococcal vaccines, Ibrance for certain breast cancers, Eliquis for preventing blood clots, Xeljanz for inflammatory conditions, and Vyndaqel for transthyretin amyloidosis.

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