Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 386.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,095,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,664,668 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $55,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 612,429 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,068,000 after purchasing an additional 9,435 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 50,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 9,565 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,554,564 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,497,000 after acquiring an additional 182,950 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth $409,000. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $152.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.94. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.43%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PFE shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

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.