Vision Financial Markets LLC Acquires New Shares in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after buying an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 22.4% during 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,760,000 after buying an additional 4,938,209 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Pfizer by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE PFE opened at $25.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.27. The company has a market capitalization of $146.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PFE. UBS Group cut their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

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.