US Asset Management LLC Invests $403,000 in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. OLD Republic International Corp increased its stake in Pfizer by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. OLD Republic International Corp now owns 1,614,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,487,000 after purchasing an additional 190,000 shares in the last quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,922 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,306,192 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $267,925,000 after purchasing an additional 192,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,225 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 23,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, April 15th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Argus lowered Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.96. 14,800,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,262,449. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.97 and a 200 day moving average of $28.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $40.37. The company has a market capitalization of $158.32 billion, a PE ratio of -466.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.58% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The company had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

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.