Valley National Advisers Inc. Boosts Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 26.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,939 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 6,835 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 417,070 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,007,000 after purchasing an additional 18,611 shares during the period. LifePlan Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,166,000. KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 173,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,004,000 after purchasing an additional 74,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. raised its stake in Pfizer by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 225,881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,503,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $27.67 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.20 and a twelve month high of $37.80. The company has a market capitalization of $156.79 billion, a PE ratio of -461.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.69. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.71.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted 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. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The company had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.07%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,799.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus lowered Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.54.

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.