LRI Investments LLC Buys New Shares in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Pfizer by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after acquiring an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after buying an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $2,129,927,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after buying an additional 8,298,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,813,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $438,820,000 after buying an additional 2,829,178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 3.3 %

NYSE:PFE traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.77. 35,657,080 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,301,530. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $37.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -512.75, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,799.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PFE. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

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.