Sage Investment Counsel LLC Makes New Investment in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.7% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 10.5% in the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 4,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 38,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.3 %

Pfizer stock opened at $26.43 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 firm has a market cap of $149.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.34.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.