Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 124.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,543 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Pfizer by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,799 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 95.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 18,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,832 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Pfizer by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,071,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $108,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,822 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 85,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 104,728 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 8,365 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PFE opened at $24.19 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.75. 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 firm has a market cap of $137.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.17.

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.