CENTRAL TRUST Co Increases Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 431,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,044 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Pfizer were worth $10,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $509,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 1,282.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 12.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 84,689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,247,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 132,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,458,000 after buying an additional 15,177 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Pfizer from $24.00 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, eight have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $24.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.57. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued 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 7.05%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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