Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Grows Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,424 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.58.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $27.35 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.96 and a 200-day moving average of $28.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.14%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.