Werlinich Asset Management LLC Buys 2,350 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Werlinich Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up 1.4% of Werlinich Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Werlinich Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 271,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,586,000 after acquiring an additional 8,375 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 897,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,099,000 after purchasing an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 190,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 85.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,953,310 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,654,000 after purchasing an additional 902,376 shares during the period. Finally, Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.8% in the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 221,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,000 after buying an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFE. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.51 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.11 and its 200 day moving average is $28.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 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.