Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 18,309 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 54.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,799 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,309 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $274,694,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 307.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,046,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $254,574,000 after purchasing an additional 7,581,030 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.17.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $24.00 on Wednesday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $20.92 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.14 and a 200-day moving average of $24.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $136.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.57.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 124.64%.

Pfizer Company 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.