Bristlecone Advisors LLC Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 43.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 50,359 shares during the quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $4,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 26.3% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 55,267 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 11,519 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $354,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 117.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 69,178 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 37,293 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,370,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFE. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $25.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The company has a market cap of $145.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.28 and its 200-day moving average is $27.73.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 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.