The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,836,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,681 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $128,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285,276 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923,537 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at $2,328,986,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,029,604,000 after acquiring an additional 5,350,381 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock opened at $23.04 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $130.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.88. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.57.

Insider Activity

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

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.