Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 4,938,209 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 79.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,938,209 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.20% of Pfizer worth $295,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its stake in Pfizer by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 16,357 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $13,873,000. Tower Bridge Advisors grew its holdings in Pfizer by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 64,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco raised its position in Pfizer by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 140,570 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.43 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.34. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio 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.