Hixon Zuercher LLC Takes Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hixon Zuercher LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 65,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,900,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 279.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $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 1st quarter valued at $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth $146,481,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 24,961.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487,919 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 120.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,498,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,181,000 after buying an additional 2,459,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.58.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.8 %

PFE opened at $27.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $158.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.65. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.20 and a twelve month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.00%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 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.