Parnassus Investments LLC Has $127.07 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,390,705 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156,894 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $127,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,124,000. Beddow Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 170,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 14.1% in the third quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,014 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after buying an additional 6,431 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 36.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 74,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 19,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 47.6% in the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 10,673 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 3,443 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $24.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $140.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

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

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.