Clarius Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Clarius Group LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,747 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,250 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its position in Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Pfizer during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.99. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.43%.

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.