Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Acquired by Stratos Investment Management LLC

Stratos Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,430 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 5,502 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.46 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.27 and a 200 day moving average of $27.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $149.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.50%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 232.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

About Pfizer

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.