New Zealand has tentatively cleared the COVID-19 vaccine that Pfizer (PFE) developed in partnership with BioNTech (BNTX) for 12-15-year olds, according to a Reuters report.
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“After careful consideration of the most up-to-date scientific and medical data available, Medsafe has announced provisional approval for our young people to be given the Pfizer vaccine,” Reuters quoted PM Jacinda Ardern as saying.
Medsafe is New Zealand’s drugs regulator. The country has more than 250,000 children aged 12 – 15 years who now stand to benefit from the Pfizer vaccine. The vaccine rollout to this group will begin after Cabinet’s approval, expected by the end of June.
In New Zealand, people aged 16 years and above are already eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines. The country has secured enough Pfizer vaccine doses for full vaccination of the currently eligible population. (See Pfizer stock chart on TipRanks)
Argus analyst David Toung recently reiterated a Buy rating with a price target of $55 on Pfizer stock. Toung’s price target implies 41.72% upside potential.
Pfizer aims to deliver a billion doses of its vaccine by the end of 2021, and Toung believes the vaccine program will continue to contribute to Pfizer’s revenue beyond 2021.
The analyst believes the market is undervaluing Pfizer shares even as the company ramps up its vaccine manufacturing. Trading at 11 times expected Fiscal 2022 earnings, Pfizer’s stock trades below the 16.5 times mean of the group of large-cap biopharma stocks that Toung covers.
Consensus among analysts is a Hold based on 2 Buys, 9 Holds, and 1 Sell. The average Pfizer analyst price target of $44.20 implies 13.89% upside potential to current levels.
According to TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity tool, confidence in PFE is currently Very Positive. The cumulative change in holdings across all 21 funds that were active in the last quarter was an increase of 3.3 million shares.
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