Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Acquired by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 740,727 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,675 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $21,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 13.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 190,628 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after buying an additional 22,068 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 74,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings in Pfizer by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 703,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,372,000 after acquiring an additional 38,907 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 323,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,348,000 after purchasing an additional 164,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,040,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.6 %

PFE stock opened at $25.37 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $143.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.29.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.78%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

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.