Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 124.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 223,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 123,543 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,071,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $108,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,822 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its position in Pfizer by 118.7% in the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 294,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,820,000 after purchasing an additional 159,984 shares during the period. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 110,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 9,963 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 127,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after buying an additional 48,397 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 85,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $24.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.34 and a 200 day moving average of $25.75. 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 company has a market capitalization of $137.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 124.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.