Independence Bank of Kentucky Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 73,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,457 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE PFE opened at $26.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.87. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 232.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut 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. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

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.