Van Strum & Towne Inc. Buys 15,900 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 22.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,584 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 15,900 shares during the quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc.'s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $13,756,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285,276 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923,537 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $2,328,986,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,029,604,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 58,382,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,548,889,000 after purchasing an additional 4,167,222 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Pfizer from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Pfizer from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.55.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE traded down $0.21 on Monday, hitting $24.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 33,436,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,926,715. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $20.92 and a one year high of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 124.64%.

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.