Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 574,748 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 74,090 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $16,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.8 %

PFE stock opened at $26.71 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. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $151.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.30 and its 200 day moving average is $27.24.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note 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 Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.