Trust Co of the South Acquires 1,667 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Trust Co of the South grew its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,945 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the 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 acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.62. 18,447,753 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,828,066. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.08. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.14.

About Pfizer

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.