Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $2.09 Million in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. has acquired 82,339 shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the first quarter, valued at approximately $2.1 million.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in Pfizer, with Brighton Jones LLC boosting its holdings by over 1,280% in the last quarter.
• Analysts have adjusted Pfizer's price targets, with Citigroup raising it to $26 and Morgan Stanley to $33, indicating a generally neutral to buy rating on the stock.

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 82,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $2,086,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PFE. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 856.8% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,053,828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $508,164,000 after acquiring an additional 17,957,928 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the first quarter worth about $389,861,000. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $407,730,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 51.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,456,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $670,407,000 after acquiring an additional 9,041,990 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 307.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,046,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $254,574,000 after purchasing an additional 7,581,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $24.94. 44,247,211 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,145,636. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $30.43. The company has a market capitalization of $141.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm's 50-day moving average is $24.82 and its 200-day moving average is $24.37.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. Pfizer's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio is presently 91.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Berenberg Bank cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.12.

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.