How to buy Pfizer shares | $38.8

Global stock markets soared in response to the news that American pharmaceuticals company Pfizer (PFE) has developed a vaccine, tested on 43,500 people, which it claims is 90% effective.

On the day of the announcement, Pfizer's share price rose 15%, before falling back and closing 7% up on the previous day. Other industries reacted positively to the news, with global economic hopes seemingly pinned on the vaccine.

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How has coronavirus impacted Pfizer's share price?

Since the stock market crash that started in February 2020, Pfizer's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was $33.82, which is 0.21% down on its pre-crash value of $33.89 (accounting for the 16 November 2020 split) and 27.86% up on the lowest point reached during the March 2020 crash when the shares fell as low as $26.45 (accounting for the 16 November 2020 split).

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Pfizer shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $759.55 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 $950.34.

Pfizer share price

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Fees for buying 20x Pfizer shares with popular platforms

Both exchange rates and share prices fluctuate in real time, so the costs presented here should be considered as a guide only. They do not incorporate stamp duty. Always refer to the platform itself for availability and pricing – which may differ from our information.

Platform	Platform fee	Min. initial deposit	Trading fee estimate
	£0	No minimum	£8.40 £563.40 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	$200	£2.77 £557.77 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£0.01	£1.04 £556.04 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£50	£2.83 £557.83 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£1	£17.56 £572.55 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£9.99 per month	No minimum	£16.37 £571.37 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£36 per year	£20	£19.49 £574.49 total	Read review Capital at risk

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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.

Is Pfizer under- or over-valued?

Valuing a stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge value.

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 22x. In other words, Pfizer shares trade at around 22x 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.

However, Pfizer's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the drug manufacturers-general industry or those of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 671.12
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 29.02
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 48.54
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): 78.76
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): 11.37
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): 29.66

PEG ratio

Pfizer's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.8717. A PEG ratio over 1 can be interpreted as meaning shares are overvalued at the current rate of growth, or may anticipate an acceleration in growth.

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.

However, it's sensible to consider Pfizer's PEG ratio in relation to those of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 0.46
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 1.78
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 3.06
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): 6.48
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): 3.09
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): 1.26

EBITDA

Pfizer's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $14.9 billion (£10.6 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Pfizer's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

To put that into context you can compare it against similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): USD$12.7 billion
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): USD$27.2 billion
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): USD$8.9 billion
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): USD$790.5 million
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): £10.4 billion
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): £6.8 billion

How to short and sell Pfizer shares

1. Create a CFD or spread betting account.
2. Search for the stock code. E.g. "PFE.US"
3. Choose your position size.
4. Select "sell" rather than "buy".
5. Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.

There are currently 65.9 million Pfizer shares held short by investors – that's known as the "short interest". This figure is 2.5% down from 67.6 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Pfizer shares can be evaluated.

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 29.4 million). Pfizer's SIR currently stands at 2.24. In other words for every 100,000 Pfizer shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2240 shares are currently held short.

To gain some more context, you can compare Pfizer's short interest ratio against those of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 2.71
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 2.14
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 2.61
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): 1.63

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 0.0118% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Pfizer shares, roughly 12 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.

Find out more about how you can short Pfizer stock.

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.

Total ESG risk score

Pfizer's 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.).

To gain some more context, you can compare Pfizer's total ESG risk score against those of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 22.15
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 35.80
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 32.35
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): 29.79
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): 28.51
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): 28.52

Environmental score

Pfizer's 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.

Social score

Pfizer's 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.

Governance score

Pfizer's 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.

Controversy score

Pfizer's controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, 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.

Wondering how that compares? Below are the controversy scores of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 2
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 4
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 3
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): 3
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): 3

Pfizer share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 54.1% of net profits

Recently Pfizer has paid out, on average, around 54.1% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 4.2% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), shareholders could enjoy a 4.2% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Pfizer's case, that would currently equate to about $1.52 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 4 March 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 27 January 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is perhaps best considered in relation to those of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 38.79%
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 50.31%
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 44.38%
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): 0.00% (does not pay dividend)
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): 69.08%
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): 66.35%

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.

Share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Pfizer's shares have ranged in value from as little as $29.0501 up to $42.6161. 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 0.6531. This would suggest that Pfizer's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

To put Pfizer's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.

• Gilead Sciences (GILD.US): 0.4126
• Johnson-and-Johnson (JNJ.US): 0.7226
• Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US): 0.7016
• IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX.US): 0.8621
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE): 0.3594
• AstraZeneca (AZN.LSE): 0.1932

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Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Pfizer is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.038% of Pfizer shares are held by insiders and 67.603% by institutions.

• How many people work for Pfizer?

  Latest data suggests 78,500 work at Pfizer.

• When does the fiscal year end for Pfizer?

  Pfizer's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Pfizer based?

  Pfizer's address is: 235 East 42nd Street, New York, NY, United States, 10017

• What is Pfizer's ISIN number?

  Pfizer's international securities identification number is: US7170811035

• What is Pfizer's CUSIP number?

  Pfizer's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 717081103