Dudley Capital Management LLC Buys 15,768 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Key Points

• Dudley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. by 28.4% in the first quarter, owning 71,299 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Bessemer Group Inc. and Alta Advisers Ltd., also boosted their positions in Pfizer during the same period, highlighting growing interest among hedge funds.
• Pfizer recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with a dividend yield of 6.94% and a payout ratio of 124.64%.

Dudley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,299 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 15,768 shares during the period. Dudley Capital Management LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA boosted its position in Pfizer by 2.1% in the first quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 29,299 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,420,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $86,686,000 after acquiring an additional 905,274 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 5.6% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 36,774 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at about $792,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PFE. HSBC cut their price target on Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Pfizer from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Pfizer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.55.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PFE traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.15. The stock had a trading volume of 13,393,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,076,000. 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 cap of $137.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.58. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.92 and a 1-year high of $31.32. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.63.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.12%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.