AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 49.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,210 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares during the last quarter. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $274,694,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 307.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,046,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $254,574,000 after purchasing an additional 7,581,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $24.31. The stock had a trading volume of 34,198,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,270,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $138.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.88.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.