Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,034 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,507 shares during the quarter. Pfizer accounts for about 1.7% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 54.4% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 16.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,275 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 13.2% in the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PFE. Barclays upped their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.58.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $28.46 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $161.27 billion, a PE ratio of -61.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently -365.21%.

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.