Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 574,748 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,090 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $16,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,248 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18,837 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 139,276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 50,713 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 348,703 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,251,000 after purchasing an additional 8,093 shares during the period. Finally, Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,444 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.24. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.