Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. by 4,629,976 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 523 million shares, representing a stake of 9.22% valued at over $13 billion.
• Recent analyst upgrades and target price adjustments for Pfizer shares have varied, with companies like Jefferies and UBS raising their target prices and giving generally positive ratings.
• Pfizer declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, translating to a significant annual yield of 7.0%, although its payout ratio sits at 124.64%.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 523,165,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,629,976 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.22% of Pfizer worth $13,257,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1,282.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 666,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $17,677,000 after buying an additional 618,117 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,458,139 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $781,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579,455 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Pfizer by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,788,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $180,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PFE. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.44.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $24.25. The company had a trading volume of 45,468,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 46,190,364. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $30.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $24.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.52. The firm has a market cap of $137.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.