Valmark Advisers Inc. Purchases 955 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,716 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the third 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.50 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

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.