Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Purchased by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 21.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 335,556 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,378 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $9,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd 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. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after buying an additional 227,349 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Pfizer by 26.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.65 on Monday. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $145.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.57. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

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.