Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,393,288 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,687 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $69,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,008,798,000 after buying an additional 2,241,609 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 22.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Pfizer by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,929,000 after acquiring an additional 456,168 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of PFE opened at $25.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $145.75 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.40.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.