Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Buys 21,519 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,346 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,519 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at $274,694,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Pfizer by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,029,604,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350,381 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $23.06 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.50 and its 200 day moving average is $25.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.46%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 124.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PFE. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.17.

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.