Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Purchases 147,405 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 23.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 762,976 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,405 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $22,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PFE. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the second quarter worth $29,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Pfizer during the second quarter worth $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Pfizer during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter worth $35,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.37 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $143.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 0.63 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.29.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company 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 earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.78%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

About Pfizer

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.