Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,118 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFE. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 132,478 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,358,000 after acquiring an additional 13,228 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter worth $8,283,000. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 69.6% in the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 31,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 8.7% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 125,964 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,176,000 after buying an additional 10,051 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 20,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Pfizer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.55.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $25.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.84. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

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.

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