First Merchants Corp Purchases 1,691 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Merchants Corp boosted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

PFE opened at $25.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.62. The stock has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.75%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.