Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Pfizer comprises 0.8% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.74% of Pfizer worth $4,124,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in 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 buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,760,000 after buying an additional 4,938,209 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after buying an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $148.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. 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 50 day moving average price of $26.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.30. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.