Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Increases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 64.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 141,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,294 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.50 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.62. 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 company has a market capitalization of $144.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.