National Pension Service Buys 339,178 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

National Pension Service boosted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,855,947 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 339,178 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $314,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFE. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.4 %

PFE opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.37. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 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. The stock has a market cap of $151.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 121.99%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value 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 represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.