Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 485,809 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $12,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% during the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Pfizer by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 4,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PFE. Citigroup dropped 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. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.37. The stock has a market cap of $151.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

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.