Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Invests $854,000 in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,192 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $854,000. Pfizer accounts for approximately 0.8% of Northstar Financial Companies Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 38,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 7,549 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 2,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,444 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 114,358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.46. 56,576,195 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,238,850. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $133.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $23.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.07.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.