Ariston Services Group Takes Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Ariston Services Group acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,155 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,284,000 after purchasing an additional 37,636 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 11.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 61,105 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after buying an additional 6,262 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 5.8% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 111,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,232,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 120.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,459,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $26.34 and a 200 day moving average of $27.30.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its 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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.