Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. by 18.8% in Q2, acquiring an additional 2,466,969 shares, bringing their total ownership to 15,601,116 shares.
• Pfizer reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.78, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving a 10.3% year-over-year growth in revenue.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.43 on December 1st, representing an annualized yield of 6.9%, with a payout ratio of 91.49%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 18.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,601,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,466,969 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.27% of Pfizer worth $378,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 132,478 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,358,000 after buying an additional 13,228 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in Pfizer by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,413,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $35,817,000 after buying an additional 17,032 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,283,000. Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,411,000. Finally, Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $24.77 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $29.17. 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 $140.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.15.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.20. Pfizer had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Pfizer's payout ratio is currently 91.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pfizer from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.13.

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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