Exeter Financial LLC Has $714,000 Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Exeter Financial LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 88.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,239 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th 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 purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth about $274,694,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Pfizer by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,029,604,000 after buying an additional 5,350,381 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE traded down $0.06 on Monday, reaching $23.44. The stock had a trading volume of 13,048,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,979,863. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.12 and a 200 day moving average of $25.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 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 firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.34%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.64%.

Pfizer Company 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.