NFJ Investment Group LLC Buys 43,719 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 384,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,719 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $11,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 279.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $150,481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378,173 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at about $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE traded down $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $25.56. 46,908,016 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,492,883. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.45. The stock has a market cap of $144.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Pfizer's payout ratio is 227.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.