Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 195,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,240 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 40,260 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 6.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,065,338 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,831,000 after buying an additional 61,988 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 56.1% in the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 30,198 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $874,000 after buying an additional 10,852 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 3.3% during the third quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 73,828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 2,375 shares during the period. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 8.0% during the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE PFE opened at $25.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.67. The stock has a market cap of $145.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

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.