Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,907,682 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,019,400 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $104,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Pfizer by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 22.4% during 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 worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE PFE opened at $25.88 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $146.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.82. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 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 given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.44%.

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.