Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $28.13 and last traded at $28.2140, with a volume of 6578179 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Daiwa Securities Group downgraded Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.19.

Pfizer Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average of $25.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $158.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 0.47.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 12.42%.The business had revenue of $17.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pfizer

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,346,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,479,520,000 after purchasing an additional 7,031,162 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 worth $7,481,085,000 after buying an additional 1,357,756 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 130,192,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,235,642,000 after buying an additional 1,184,728 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Pfizer by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,218,929,000 after buying an additional 14,342,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,830,986,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.