Howland Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Howland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Pfizer by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 80.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $25.76 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $145.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.74. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 121.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.