Bellevue Group AG Raises Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 48.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,834 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 10,966 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $939,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $2,129,927,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after buying an additional 11,099,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after purchasing an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 181.6% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,670,445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $212,855,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,000 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $30.83. 21,770,465 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,603,988. The company has a market cap of $174.70 billion, a PE ratio of -508.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.69. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $37.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

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.