Wright Investors Service Inc. Invests $448,000 in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Wright Investors Service Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 16,885 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFE. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.79 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $151.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Pfizer Company 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.