Blue Trust Inc. Buys 5,136 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 50,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,136 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 417,070 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,007,000 after acquiring an additional 18,611 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,166,000. KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 173,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,004,000 after purchasing an additional 74,487 shares during the last quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 13,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kempner Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,439,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $28.30. The company had a trading volume of 50,332,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,558,848. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $37.19. The stock has a market cap of $160.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -471.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.54.

About Pfizer

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.