Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $3.71 Million Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 540 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 279.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,481,000 after buying an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,481,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Pfizer by 24,961.6% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487,919 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 120.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,498,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.73 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.20 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $151.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating 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, October 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.58.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.