Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.38% of Pfizer worth $564,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its position in Pfizer by 168.3% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $144.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.65. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share 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 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 dividend yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

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.