A vaccine and antiviral treatment for COVID-19 have been created Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) a household name in recent years, but this is not everything the company sells. The product range includes dozens of innovative medicines that benefit from patent-protected market exclusivity.
With patents on drugs that many patients can’t live without, Pfizer had no trouble returning about $9.25 billion to its shareholders last year in the form of a dividend it set at $0.41 per share.
Pfizer will pay out more dividends this year
Pfizer announced last December that it would increase its dividend payout by a penny to $0.42 per share. The company’s existing share repurchase authorization was $3.3 billion as of May 1, but the company does not expect to repurchase any shares this year.
With a payout that’s up slightly and a share count that isn’t declining, investors can expect Pfizer to pay out significantly more this year. With about 5.67 billion shares outstanding, Pfizer will pay out about $9.52 billion in dividends this year.
More increases in prospect
Investors don’t need the company to increase payouts much to realize satisfying profits. The stock offers a yield of 5.8% at recent prices.
A handful of famous billionaire investors anticipating more dividend increases bought millions of Pfizer shares in the first three months of 2024.
It’s easy to understand why billionaires are jumping on Pfizer. Overall sales are down, but excluding COVID-19 products and the currency exchange, first quarter sales rose 11% year over year. Now that the worst of the COVID-19 losses are behind us, Pfizer’s bottom line could rise in the coming years. Adding a few stocks to a diversified portfolio now seems like a smart move.
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Cory Renauer has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool holds and recommends positions in Pfizer. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
How much will Pfizer pay out in dividends this year? was originally published by The Motley Fool
