Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 38.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,375 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 27,206 shares during the quarter. Chicago Capital LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,694,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 307.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,046,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $254,574,000 after purchasing an additional 7,581,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.
Pfizer Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE PFE traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.88. The stock had a trading volume of 37,055,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,246,616. The firm has a market cap of $135.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.57. 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 fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.14 and a 200-day moving average of $24.93.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.
Pfizer Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.20%. Pfizer's payout ratio is 124.64%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently commented on PFE shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.17.
Read Our Latest Analysis on PFE
About Pfizer
(
Free Report)
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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