Operose Advisors LLC Buys 14,780 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Key Points

• Operose Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. by 3,004.1%, acquiring 14,780 shares to bring its total holdings to 15,272 shares valued at approximately $387,000.
• Several institutional investors significantly raised their positions in Pfizer, with Pacer Advisors Inc. increasing holdings by 856.8%, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake by 51.9%.
• Pfizer recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.78, exceeding analyst estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, which equates to a yield of 7.0%.

Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 3,004.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,272 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 14,780 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 856.8% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,053,828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $508,164,000 after buying an additional 17,957,928 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the first quarter worth $389,861,000. Starboard Value LP bought a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth $407,730,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 9,041,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 307.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.12.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:PFE opened at $24.57 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.48. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $30.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $139.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.52.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.20. Pfizer had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Pfizer's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.49%.

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.

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