Vest Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,573 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $145.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price 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. UBS Group dropped 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. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.