Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Acquired by Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,824 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,329 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 22.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,760,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938,209 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Pfizer by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,549 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $148.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.30. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 121.99%.

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.