Washington Trust Bank Boosts Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Washington Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,175 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter worth about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the first quarter valued at $37,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,010,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,283,453. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.20 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The firm has a market cap of $155.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50-day moving average is $28.96 and its 200 day moving average is $28.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

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.