Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Takes $636,000 Position in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 24,943 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,270,157,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 533,363,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,928,730,000 after acquiring an additional 10,198,330 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Pfizer by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,718,955 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $453,747,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662,309 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Pfizer by 75.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,689,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $221,398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722,531 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 84.9% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,561,946 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $183,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472,240 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $26.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $151.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.47. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $27.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.95 and its 200 day moving average is $25.31.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 12.42%.The company had revenue of $17.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 126.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.84.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.