Viking Fund Management LLC Buys 40,000 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 384,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Pfizer accounts for about 1.6% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $10,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after buying an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during 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 worth $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.97. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

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.