445,704 Shares in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Bought by Fisher Funds Management LTD

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 445,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,804,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Lipe & Dalton grew its position in Pfizer by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 2,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 17,945 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $480,000. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE opened at $26.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.41. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The firm has a market cap of $149.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced 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 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%. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.