Pfizer Inc. $PFE Shares Purchased by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,445,747 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 719,768 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $62,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1,282.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 666,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,677,000 after purchasing an additional 618,117 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in Pfizer by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 58,087 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after buying an additional 6,415 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.4% during the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 19,945 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 4.4% during the second quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,219 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.29. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $27.94.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Pfizer’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 126.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PFE shares. Daiwa Securities Group lowered Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wolfe Research set a $24.00 price objective on Pfizer and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.84.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.