Pfizer Inc. $PFE Stake Increased by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its Pfizer stake by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 498,289 shares and bringing its holdings to 13.44 million shares worth about $334.6 million.
• Pfizer’s latest earnings topped expectations, with Q2 results showing EPS of $0.75 versus the $0.72 estimate and revenue of $14.45 billion, up 5.4% from a year earlier.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, implying an annualized yield of 6.6%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with an average price target of $28.82.

National Pension Service increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,439,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 498,289 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.24% of Pfizer worth $334,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,346,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $13,479,520,000 after buying an additional 7,031,162 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,087,408 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,620,747,000 after buying an additional 2,786,098 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 130,192,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,235,642,000 after buying an additional 1,184,728 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 64,019,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,631,225,000 after buying an additional 869,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 51,952,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,293,607,000 after buying an additional 2,664,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Pfizer from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus raised shares of Pfizer from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.82.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.16 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $28.75. The company has a market cap of $149.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.79 and a 200-day moving average of $26.28.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. Pfizer had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The company had revenue of $14.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Pfizer's payout ratio is 131.30%.

Key Headlines Impacting Pfizer

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer and Innovent Biologics announced a global licensing and collaboration deal to research and develop 12 early-stage cancer medicines, with potential value of up to $10.5 billion. The agreement expands Pfizer’s oncology pipeline and could create long-term revenue opportunities. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The companies also described the partnership as a strategic global collaboration covering ADCs and multi-specific antibodies, which suggests Pfizer is strengthening its next-generation cancer portfolio. PR Newswire article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also highlighted steady early-stage pipeline progress, including a new Phase 1 trial update, reinforcing the view that Pfizer has several development programs moving forward. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America recently lifted its price target on Pfizer to $27 from $26 after stronger quarterly results, indicating slightly improved sentiment but still a cautious overall stance. Yahoo Finance article

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc NYSE: PFE is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer's portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.

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