Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine made numerous headlines with the announcement of its 95% efficacy rate. Now approved for emergency use, millions of doses of the vaccine and a second vaccine, from Moderna, could be distributed by year’s end. Here’s how to invest in Pfizer stock.
Latest updates
Wednesday, December 23: Pfizer and BioNTech will reportedly provide an additional 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the United States in a $2 billion deal. The pharmaceutical giant has already agreed to provide 100 million doses. The most recent round of doses will be delivered by July 31, 2021.
Friday, December 11: The US Food and Drug Administration cleared the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for emergency use, with millions of doses expected to go out in the next few days.
Tuesday, December 8: Britain began vaccinations using the drug developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech.
Wednesday, December 2: The UK becomes the first country to approve Pfizer’s vaccine for emergency use, with vaccine distribution expected for the following week.
Tuesday, December 1: Advisors to the Center for Disease Control recommended that the first doses of any COVID-19 vaccine should be given to health-care workers and workers in nursing homes and other care facilities, according to news reports.
Wednesday, November 18: Pfizer releases final data from its Phase 3 study and amends the efficacy rate of its vaccine, stating its vaccine is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
Monday, November 9: Pfizer announces an early analysis of its two-dose vaccine is over 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.
How to buy shares in Pfizer
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On Nov. 9, Pfizer released a statement based on an early analysis of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine it’s developing with German biotechnology business, BioNTech. The company stated its vaccine is over 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in patients with no evidence of prior infection.
On Nov. 18, Pfizer released final data from its Phase 3 study and amended the efficacy rate of its vaccine, stating its vaccine is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
This is encouraging data — but it’s early data. And it hasn’t been peer-reviewed.
On December 2, the UK became the first country to officially approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The first round of vaccines is expected to roll out in the following weeks to front-line medical workers and residents of long-term care homes.
Pfizer has asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency-use approval. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already placed an order for 20 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, stating the vaccine will be deployed as soon as it’s approved by Health Canada.
Pfizer expects to produce over 50 million doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021. A panel advising the Centers for Disease Control recommended December 1 that the first doses go to healthcare workers and the staffs of nursing homes and care facilities.
Moderna vs. Pfizer
Both Moderna and Pfizer have made numerous news headlines as they work to develop effective coronavirus vaccines. But how do their vaccines compare? Here’s how these COVID-19 vaccines stack up.
Moderna
Pfizer
Type of vaccine
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
Efficacy rate
94.5%
95%
Trial size
30,000 people
43,538 people
Number of doses
2 shots, 28 days apart
2 shots, 21 days apart
Storage
-20°C
-70°C
Production
Up to 20 million doses by the end of 2020
Up to 50 million doses by the end of 2020
Years in business
10
171
Number of manufactured drugs
0
300+
How has coronavirus impacted Pfizer's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Pfizer's share price has had significant positive movement.
Its last close price was $39.86, which is 10.39% up on its pre-crash value of $35.72 and 42.97% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $27.88.
If you had bought $1,000 worth of Pfizer shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $759.54 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $1.00.
How has coronavirus impacted Pfizer's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Pfizer's share price has had significant positive movement.
Its last close price was $39.86, which is 10.39% up on its pre-crash value of $35.72 and 42.97% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $27.88.
If you had bought $1,000 worth of Pfizer shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $759.54 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $1.00.
Pfizer share price
Use our graph to track the performance of PFE stocks over time.
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Is it a good time to buy Pfizer stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.
Pfizer price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the close of $39.86 from 2021-02-25
1 week (2021-04-30)
N/A
1 month (2021-04-09)
8.91%
3 months (2021-02-11)
15.77%
6 months (2020-11-11)
3.53%
1 year (2020-05-11)
4.62%
2 years (2019-05-10)
-2.11%
3 years (2018-05-11)
12.28%
5 years (2016-05-11)
20.21%
Is Pfizer under- or over-valued?
Valuing Pfizer stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Pfizer's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Pfizer's P/E ratio
Pfizer's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 20x. In other words, Pfizer shares trade at around 20x recent earnings.
That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.
Pfizer's PEG ratio
Pfizer's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.1982. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Pfizer's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
Pfizer's EBITDA
Pfizer's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $16.7 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a Pfizer's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
Pfizer financials
Revenue TTM
$46.4 billion
Operating margin TTM
25.77%
Gross profit TTM
$33.3 billion
Return on assets TTM
3.93%
Return on equity TTM
11.06%
Profit margin
24%
Book value
$11.36
Market capitalisation
$220.8 billion
TTM: trailing 12 months
Shorting Pfizer shares
There are currently 60.9 million Pfizer shares held short by investors – that's known as Pfizer's "short interest". This figure is 10.9% down from 68.3 million last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Pfizer shares can be evaluated.
Pfizer's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
Pfizer's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Pfizer shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Pfizer shares traded daily (recently around 26.9 million). Pfizer's SIR currently stands at 2.26. In other words for every 100,000 Pfizer shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2260 shares are currently held short.
However Pfizer's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Pfizer shares, or, against the total number of tradable Pfizer shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Pfizer's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Pfizer shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0109% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Pfizer shares, roughly 11 shares are currently held short).
Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Pfizer.
Pfizer's environmental, social and governance track record
Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Pfizer.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
Pfizer's total ESG risk score
Total ESG risk: 33.15
Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Pfizer's overall score of 33.15 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty weak – landing it in it in the 60th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.
ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Pfizer is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).
Pfizer's environmental score
Environmental score: 7/100
Pfizer's environmental score of 7 puts it squarely in the 6th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Pfizer is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Pfizer's social score
Social score: 18.47/100
Pfizer's social score of 18.47 puts it squarely in the 6th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Pfizer is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.
Pfizer's governance score
Governance score: 13.68/100
Pfizer's governance score puts it squarely in the 6th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Pfizer is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Pfizer's controversy score
Controversy score: 3/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Pfizer scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Pfizer hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
Pfizer Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
Total ESG score
33.15
Total ESG percentile
60
Environmental score
7
Environmental score percentile
6
Social score
18.47
Social score percentile
6
Governance score
13.68
Governance score percentile
6
Level of controversy
3
Pfizer share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 52.67% of net profits
Recently Pfizer has paid out, on average, around 52.67% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.94% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Pfizer shareholders could enjoy a 3.94% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Pfizer's case, that would currently equate to about $1.53 per share.
Pfizer's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.
Pfizer's most recent dividend payout was on 3 June 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 5 May 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").
Have Pfizer's shares ever split?
Pfizer's shares were split on a 1054:1000 basis on 16 November 2020. So if you had owned 1000 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 1054 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Pfizer shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 5.1% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Pfizer shares which in turn could have impacted Pfizer's share price.
Pfizer share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Pfizer's shares have ranged in value from as little as $28.7978 up to $42.2003. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Pfizer's is 0.6733. This would suggest that Pfizer's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
Pfizer overview
Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic and pain under the Eliquis, Chantix/Champix, and Premarin family brands; biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies, and biosimilars under the Ibrance, Xtandi, Sutent, Inlyta, Retacrit, Lorbrena, and Braftovi brands; and sterile injectable and anti-infective medicines under the Sulperazon, Medrol, Zithromax, Vfend, and Panzyga brands. The company also provides medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, such as pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, tick-borne encephalitis, and COVID-19 under the Prevnar 13/Prevenar 13 (pediatric/adult), Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, Trumenba, and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine brands; biosimilars for chronic immune and inflammatory diseases under the Xeljanz, Enbrel, Inflectra, and Eucrisa/Staquis brands; and amyloidosis, hemophilia, and endocrine diseases under the Vyndaqel/Vyndamax, BeneFIX, and Genotropin brands. In addition, the company is involved in the contract manufacturing business. It serves wholesalers, retailers, hospitals, clinics, government agencies, pharmacies, and individual provider offices, as well as disease control and prevention centers. The company has collaboration agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Astellas Pharma US, Inc.
Shannon Terrell is a senior writer for Finder who has written over 400 personal finance guides. With a focus on investments and personal finance, she breaks down jargon-laden topics to help others make informed financial decisions. She studied communications and English literature at the University of Toronto.
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