AIA Group Ltd Buys 99,451 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 125.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,451 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $4,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 35,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 30,582 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 30,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, King Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 16,686 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday. Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.69.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, hitting $28.92. 28,153,470 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,011,234. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $163.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -482.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.20 and a 12-month high of $37.80.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

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 $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently -2,800.00%.

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.