Verity & Verity LLC Has $19.43 Million Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 19.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 671,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 108,863 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up 1.9% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $19,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 639,985 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 13,118,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $379,657,000 after buying an additional 544,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $24.88 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $140.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.92.

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.