First Trust Advisors LP Has $381.29 Million Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,372,086 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,426,546 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.25% of Pfizer worth $381,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $22.13 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.19. The stock has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on PFE shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.07.

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.