Vanguard Group Inc. Has $13.61 Billion Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 534,315,020 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 951,563 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.40% of Pfizer worth $13,614,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 46.4% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 145,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 46,043 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $3,019,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 236.1% during the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after buying an additional 48,900 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its stake in Pfizer by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 248,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,325,000 after acquiring an additional 57,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 76.4% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 109,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 47,319 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $27.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.47. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month high of $27.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.20.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $17.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.