True North Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

True North Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,588 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter worth about $224,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 6.6% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 95,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,675,000 after buying an additional 5,932 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Pfizer during the second quarter valued at $3,698,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,452,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth about $738,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Pfizer Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $26.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.09 and a 200 day moving average of $27.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction 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 $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.