Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.73 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,157 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,137 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.20 on Monday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $142.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.90.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

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.