Czech National Bank Increases Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Czech National Bank grew its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,228,716 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 74,350 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $32,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 1,131.0% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,375 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 40,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 3,911 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 72,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,701 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 114,499 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its position in Pfizer by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 19,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $26.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. 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 of $26.18 and a 200 day moving average of $28.04. The company has a market cap of $151.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.