Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 2,137 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,157 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,137 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PFE. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $25.20 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $142.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.90.

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

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.