Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Acquires New Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 150,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,370,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 4.9% in 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 period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after buying an additional 2,241,609 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,104,088 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,593,000 after buying an additional 290,760 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 3.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $417,561,000 after acquiring an additional 470,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 2.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,260,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $287,077,000 after acquiring an additional 238,850 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PFE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.54.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.16. 29,617,610 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,393,754. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.38. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.20 and a twelve month high of $33.92. The firm has a market cap of $165.24 billion, a PE ratio of -486.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.76%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.