Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Director Ronald E. Blaylock Buys 19,457 Shares

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased 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 approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $25.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.62.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pfizer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,694,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,029,604,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350,381 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Company 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.