Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,686 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 27.9% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 460,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,316,000 after purchasing an additional 100,492 shares during the period. City Holding Co. raised its position in Pfizer by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 33,636 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,726 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 123,930 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,587,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 25.4% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 12,223 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 2,479 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 3.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,323,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,314,000 after acquiring an additional 46,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.83 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $26.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.78. 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 capitalization of $146.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released 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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.66%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 232.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 target for the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

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.