Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 400 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 100.0% in the first quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.54.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock traded up $0.52 on Monday, reaching $28.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,300,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,485,598. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $37.19. The company has a market capitalization of $163.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -479.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.83%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently -2,800.00%.

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.