Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $15.86 Million Investment in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 597,710 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,857,000. Pfizer accounts for approximately 0.5% of Avanza Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 155,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,113,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in Pfizer by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 42,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. RDA Financial Network boosted its position in Pfizer by 497.9% in the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 64,994 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after buying an additional 54,124 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 105,809 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after buying an additional 5,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 49,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 39,356 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE PFE opened at $26.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.11 and a 200-day moving average of $28.01. The firm has a market cap of $149.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.