Emerald Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Emerald Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,474 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Pfizer by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,284,000 after acquiring an additional 37,636 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter worth about $144,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 55.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 422,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,217,000 after purchasing an additional 151,293 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 481.4% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 107,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 88,982 shares during the period. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 41,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 6,586 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average of $27.45.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. This is a positive change 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.