Van Strum & Towne Inc. Raises Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 22.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,584 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc.'s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of PFE traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,006,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,933,755. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.07 and a 200 day moving average of $24.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $143.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.58.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Berenberg Bank decreased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.55.

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.