Voya Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 704 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Voya Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. Voya Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $145.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.76, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.54 and its 200 day moving average is $28.40.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.