Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Purchases 11,820 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 15.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 88,670 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,820 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Pfizer by 279.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 1st quarter worth about $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $146,481,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 24,961.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,891,000 after acquiring an additional 2,487,919 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 120.7% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,459,666 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $24.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.77%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

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.