Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,055 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after buying an additional 2,285,276 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFE. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $144.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its 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 for 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%. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Company 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.