Apexium Financial LP Acquires 9,570 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Apexium Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 72.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,772 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,570 shares during the period. Apexium Financial LP’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 1.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 612,429 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,068,000 after acquiring an additional 9,435 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 50,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Pfizer by 13.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,554,564 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $43,497,000 after purchasing an additional 182,950 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter worth approximately $409,000. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $152.19 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.94. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

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. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.