Verity & Verity LLC Has $22 Million Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 41.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 868,002 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 254,971 shares during the quarter. Pfizer accounts for 1.9% of Verity & Verity LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $21,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285,276 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,923,537 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $2,328,986,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 valued at $2,029,604,000 after acquiring an additional 5,350,381 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE traded down $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.51. 46,354,360 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,209,115. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.02%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 124.64%.

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.