South Dakota Investment Council Buys 9,000 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,348,986 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up approximately 0.7% of South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $35,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,549 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.6 %

PFE opened at $26.32 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $149.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.41.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

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.