What's Going On With Pfizer Stock?

Pfizer, Inc. PFE shares are trading higher Friday. The stock remains down by more than 11% over the past five days and down by more than 47% year-to-date.

Here's a look at what's going on:

What To Know:

Pfizer shares are climbing on heavy trading volume Friday after the company announced that its board of directors declared an increase in the quarterly cash dividend. The first-quarter dividend of 42 cents per share, up from 41 cents, will be payable March 1 to holders of the stock as of Jan. 26. 

According to data from Benzinga Pro, more than 44.3 million shares have been traded in the session, exceeding the stock's 100-day average volume of 35.194 million shares.

Pfizer announced the completion of its acquisition of Seagen on Thursday for $229 per share at a total value of approximately $43 billion. 

The following analysts have lowered their price targets on Pfizer this week:

Barclays analyst Carter Gould maintained Pfizer with an Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $34 to $28.

UBS analyst Colin Bristow maintained Pfizer with a Neutral and lowered the price target from $34 to $27.

Truist Securities analyst Robyn Karnauskas maintained Pfizer with a Buy and lowered the price target from $42 to $36.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, Pfizer shares are trading above the stock's 50-day moving average of $35.19 and well-below its 52-week high of $54.93.

Related News: Moderna CEO Highlights Promising Cancer Vaccine Data: 'Think About The Number Of Lives That Can Be Impacted'

PFE Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Pfizer shares are up by 3.2% at $26.98 at the time of publication.

Image: Pete Linforth from Pixabay