Bleakley Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,327 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gould Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PFE. Redburn Atlantic reduced their target price on Pfizer from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC dropped their price target on Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Pfizer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.55.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE PFE traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.45. The company had a trading volume of 22,857,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,661,633. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.92 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $138.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $24.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.75.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio 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.