Athena Investment Management Boosts Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Athena Investment Management raised its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 52,012 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the quarter. Pfizer comprises approximately 0.9% of Athena Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 25,651 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 26,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 317,014 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,900 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,000. Finally, M&G Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,027,780 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,806,000 after purchasing an additional 252,116 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFE. Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.54.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $29.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $168.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -495.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.68. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $34.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,800.00%.

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.