Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 59.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 47,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,799 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Pfizer by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after acquiring an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after acquiring an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Pfizer by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,817,055,000 after acquiring an additional 348,628 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,129,927,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Pfizer by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after acquiring an additional 8,298,920 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, June 17th. Argus cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.86.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $27.74 on Monday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $38.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.70.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,799.53%.

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.