Utah Retirement Systems Raises Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 940,568 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Pfizer were worth $24,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $23.80 on Wednesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.48 and a 200-day moving average of $25.86. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.23%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.57.

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.