Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires New Shares in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,221,888 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,188,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after purchasing an additional 11,099,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after purchasing an additional 8,473,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,129,927,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,813,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $438,820,000 after buying an additional 2,829,178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:PFE traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.71. 28,404,433 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,500,234. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $37.19. The firm has a market cap of $162.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -478.42, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.89.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,799.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. UBS Group lifted their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.54.

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.