Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,556,028 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 163,269 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $64,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blossom Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 15,153 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 64,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 5,008 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 13,279 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 75,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 9.4% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 636,215 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,122,000 after buying an additional 54,844 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PFE opened at $24.04 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $20.92 and a one year high of $31.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $136.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.57.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.15%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 124.64%.

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.