Boston Financial Mangement LLC Increases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 33.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,054,464 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 263,314 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $27,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $564,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $25.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $146.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average is $27.45. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFE shares. 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.