Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Takes $13.30 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 501,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $13,301,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFE. Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 25,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 1,998 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,499,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,649,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $24.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $138.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.85.

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 company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is currently 124.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.64.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.