Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Shares Up 3.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Pfizer shares rose 3.7% to about $28.25, supported by enthusiasm for mRNA cancer vaccines, elevated call-option activity and regulatory progress for its Lyme disease vaccine candidate.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.77 in EPS versus $0.68 expected and $15.03 billion in revenue, while maintaining a sizable 6.1% dividend yield.
• Despite the rally, analysts remain cautious: Pfizer has a consensus “Hold” rating with a $28.28 target, while patent-cliff risks, strong competition and the unproven obesity-drug opportunity weigh on the longer-term outlook.

Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) were up 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $28.44 and last traded at $28.2470. 59,373,284 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 42,257,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.25.

Pfizer News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm over cancer vaccines: Merck and Moderna reported positive recurrence-free-survival results for their personalized mRNA cancer-vaccine combination with Keytruda in melanoma patients. Although Pfizer was not involved in the trial, the data strengthened confidence in the commercial potential of mRNA-based cancer treatments and lifted Pfizer alongside related companies. Pfizer Stock Rises Wednesday: What's Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Heavy call-option activity: Investors bought 170,284 Pfizer call options, roughly 47% above typical daily volume, signaling increased short-term bullish positioning and potentially amplifying the stock’s upward momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Lyme-vaccine regulatory progress: The European Medicines Agency validated Pfizer and Valneva’s marketing-authorization application for their Lyme disease vaccine candidate, allowing the application to proceed to full review. The filing provides a potential future growth catalyst beyond Pfizer’s established products. Pfizer Gets EMA Lyme Vaccine Filing Validation
• Neutral Sentiment: Obesity opportunity remains unproven: Pfizer is seeking market share in the highly competitive obesity-drug market with monthly berobenatide. Success could diversify revenue, but the company must still demonstrate competitive efficacy, safety, and commercial execution against established GLP-1 therapies. Pfizer's Obesity Push
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and patent concerns persist: Merck’s deeper investment in personalized cancer vaccines raises the competitive bar for Pfizer, while analysts continue to flag Pfizer’s looming patent cliff as a longer-term earnings risk. These issues may limit the durability of the current rally. Merck Just Raised the Stakes for Pfizer's Cancer Vaccine Ambitions

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC cut shares of Pfizer from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Pfizer from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Pfizer from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.28.

Pfizer Stock Up 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average price is $25.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.21. The stock has a market cap of $161.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 226.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 1,282.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 666,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $17,677,000 after buying an additional 618,117 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 12.4% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 58,087 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,415 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 31.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,635,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $63,889,000 after purchasing an additional 631,523 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 102,327 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 31,896 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc NYSE: PFE is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer's portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.

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