Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,432,955 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,509 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Pfizer were worth $61,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Gould Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,212,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,937,157. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.98. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month 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. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.02%. Pfizer's payout ratio is currently 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.