Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych grew its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 205.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 44,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,200 shares during the period. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the third 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 80.9% in the third 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 394.2% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Pfizer by 26.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $26.09 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The firm has a market cap of $147.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.35.

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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.99%.

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.