Sentry Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Sentry Investment Management LLC increased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 267.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 13,290 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $509,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 1,282.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 666,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $17,677,000 after acquiring an additional 618,117 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 158,076 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.11. The stock had a trading volume of 32,745,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,927,984. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. 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 50-day moving average price of $23.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.02. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 issued 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 7.44%. Pfizer's payout ratio is 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.