IMS Capital Management Grows Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

IMS Capital Management increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the quarter. Pfizer comprises about 1.3% of IMS Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Pfizer by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after purchasing an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,985,783,000 after purchasing an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,129,927,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Pfizer by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after buying an additional 8,298,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Pfizer by 21.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,813,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,178 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.58.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.43. 42,364,712 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,871,120. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.20 and a 12 month high of $37.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.43 billion, a PE ratio of -507.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.52%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,799.53%.

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.