Impax Asset Management Group plc Makes New Investment in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 26,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $713,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after acquiring an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFE. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.