Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Purchases 607 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,299 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of PFE opened at $26.43 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average of $26.35 and a 200 day moving average of $27.34. The company has a market cap of $149.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.