AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Acquires Shares of 315,934 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 315,934 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,382,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,820,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $52,692,000 after purchasing an additional 266,167 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,284,000 after purchasing an additional 37,636 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 5,854 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 154.1% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 15,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 56,199 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

PFE opened at $25.50 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.62. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.75%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PFE. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.