Hickory Point Bank & Trust Makes New $459,000 Investment in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.33. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

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.