Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline Friday, December 18, 2020

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC., $37.68, New York symbol PFE, is a buy. The company is one of the world’s largest makers of prescription drugs. Its top-selling brands include Eliquis (stroke), Ibrance (breast cancer) and Prevnar (pneumonia). Pfizer will now raise your dividend by 2.6%. Starting with the March 2021 payment, investors will receive $0.39 a share instead of $0.38. The new annual rate of $1.56 yields a solid 4.1% for investors. On November 16, 2020, Pfizer combined its Upjohn division (generic pharmaceuticals) with Netherlands-based Mylan N.V. (Nasdaq symbol MYL). As a result, the company’s investors received 0.124079 of a share in the new firm—called VIATRIS INC., $17.75, Nasdaq symbol VTRS—for each PFE share they held. As a group, they now own 57% of Viatris. Mylan’s investors hold the other 43%. Viatris plans to begin paying a quarterly dividend in the second quarter of 2021. Pfizer promised investors that the combined dividend of the two companies would equal its new annual rate. As a result, Pfizer will reduce…