Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,663,108 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,782 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Pfizer were worth $42,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,328,986,000. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $407,730,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 307.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,046,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $254,574,000 after acquiring an additional 7,581,030 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,029,604,000 after acquiring an additional 5,350,381 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1,106.0% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,619,213 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $143,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153,257 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic dropped their price target on Pfizer from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Pfizer from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.55.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $25.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $145.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.80.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.