MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 26,451 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,500,026 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 26,451 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $39,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its stake in Pfizer by 8.4% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 25,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,499,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 7.7% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.4% during the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,649,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFE. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.4 %

PFE opened at $22.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.17. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Pfizer Company 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.