GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Acquires New Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. bought a new stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285,276 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923,537 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,328,986,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,029,604,000 after buying an additional 5,350,381 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $22.10 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.33. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $125.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFE. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.