Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 88,527 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,515,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 88,527 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $66,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $274,694,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 79.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.71 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.23. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. 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 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

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.