Washington Trust Bank Increases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,175 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 279.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Pfizer in the first quarter valued at approximately $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $146,481,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 24,961.6% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487,919 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 120.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,498,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,666 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,010,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,283,453. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $155.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 16.40%. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

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.