Hartford Financial Management Inc. Acquires 529 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,529 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at $146,481,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 226.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $179,715,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,076 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.22 and a 200-day moving average of $27.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 6.40%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio 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.