Hilltop Holdings Inc. Buys 24,736 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 31.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 102,353 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,736 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.49. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $146.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFE. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.92.

About Pfizer

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.