Whitener Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,145 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Pfizer by 279.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 164.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PFE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

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.