First Trust Advisors LP Buys 2,426,546 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,372,086 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,426,546 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $381,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $22.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.19. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 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 company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.07.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Company 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.