Pzena Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Free Report) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,281,709 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,029 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 0.13% of Pfizer worth $210,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Pfizer in the first quarter valued at approximately $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at $146,481,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 24,961.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,498,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,181,000 after buying an additional 2,459,666 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.92.

Read Our Latest Report on Pfizer

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE traded down $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $24.94. 8,742,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,278,762. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.45 and a 200-day moving average of $28.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

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.

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