Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 19,570.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 800,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 795,933 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $21,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 460,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,316,000 after purchasing an additional 100,492 shares during the period. City Holding Co. grew its position in Pfizer by 12.5% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 33,636 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 3,726 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Pfizer by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 123,930 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 12,223 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,323,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,314,000 after acquiring an additional 46,221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $25.83 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 232.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Company 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.