Here's How Much Investing $1,000 In Pfizer Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today

Investors who owned stocks in the 2010s generally experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500's SPY total return for the decade was 250.5%. But there’s no question some big-name stocks did much better than others along the way.

Pfizer’s Difficult Decade: One solid performer of the last decade was pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. PFE.

Pfizer’s decade was defined by big acquisitions and even bigger failed acquisitions.

In 2016, Pfizer acquired cancer drug maker Medivation for $14 billion. Just last year, Pfizer acquired oncology play Array Biopharma for $10.6 billion.

However, the biggest attempted Pfizer deal of the decade never ended up happening. In November 2015, Pfizer and Allergan announced a $160 billion merger deal that would have been the largest pharma merger in history. The deal was intended to be a reverse merger, allowing Pfizer to reap the tax benefits of Allergan’s Irish domicile. However, after the Obama administration implemented new regulations limiting these types of tax-advantaged mergers, Pfizer and Allergan abandoned their merger plans in April 2016.

Allergan was ultimately acquired by AbbVie Inc ABBV for just $63 billion in 2019.

Pfizer shares started the 2010s trading at $19 and hit their decade low of $14 by the middle of 2010. Pfizer shares then went on a tear over the next three years, peaking at $32.96 in early 2014.

From there, Pfizer spent most of the next four years trading mostly sideways in a range between around $28 and $37. The stock finally broke out to the upside in mid-2018. Pfizer ultimately peaked at $46.47 in 2018, its high point of the decade.

Pfizer initially dropped as low as $27.88 during the COVID-19 sell-off earlier this year. However, shares have since rallied on optimism about the company’s coronavirus vaccine candidate it is developing with partner BioNTech. The U.S. government recently agreed to pay $2 billion for 100 million initial doses of the vaccine, assuming it meets safety and efficacy standards.

2020 And Beyond: The vaccine bounce has brought Pfizer shares all the way back up to around $37, making the stock a solid overall long-term investment during the past decade.

In fact, $1,000 worth of Pfizer stock in 2010 would be worth about $3,598 today, assuming reinvested dividends.

Looking ahead, analysts don’t expect the vaccine rally for Pfizer will continue much longer for Pfizer. The average price target among the13 analysts covering the stock is $38, suggesting 1.2% upside from current levels.