Welch Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 76.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,826,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 794,076 shares during the quarter. Pfizer comprises about 2.0% of Welch Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $46,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 19.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,694,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Pfizer by 7.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,350,381 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PFE. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.17.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $23.46. 56,576,195 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,238,850. The company has a market capitalization of $133.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $20.92 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.07. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is currently 124.64%.

Pfizer 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.