Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Position Increased by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 38,605 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,184 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter worth $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after acquiring an additional 4,546,809 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFE. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $25.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.45. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.