Pfizer slides 0.61%; closes lower for four consecutive days

Today at a glance: grinding lower but with no clear-cut direction, the multinational pharma juggernaut closed the session at $37.6 after forming a distinct $37.56 – $38.44 range.

• The day's trading volume totalled 19.55 million shares — slightly under the 21-day average of 29.26 million.
• Pfizer's board sets quarterly dividend of 41 cents per share to be paid on Friday, June 9th; annual dividend yield esimated at 4.36%.

With traders awaiting session open in 3 days, today's session was noteworthy in that S&P 500 went up by 1.3% and closed at 4,205.45. Dow Jones gained 1% and reached 33,100. Pfizer ended the day at $37.6, doing worse than the Healthcare sector which saw a 2.94% increase this session.

Pfizer hit a significant low of $36.48 around 8 days ago, but has since recovered 3.7%. So far this year, it has been under-performing the Dow Jones by 25.07%. Currently, the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology company has a market capitalization of $212.26 billion with an average daily volume of 29.26 million shares. Pfizer has a forecast of $16.59 billion with an EPS of 98 cents.

Pfizer's board declared a dividend of 41 cents per share on Wednesday, April 26th for all shareholders on record up until Friday, May 12th. The decision means shareholders will receive a dividend yield of 4.36% this year with the payment set to be made on Friday, June 9th.

Pfizer was not the only decliner in the health care sector; Medtronic went down 2.49%, closed at $83.54. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company goes down 1.15% today to close at $64.56. Merck went down to $111.07, losing 1.1% after it closed at $112.3 today.