Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Raises Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,450 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Pfizer by 279.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $146,481,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Pfizer by 164.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 226.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $179,715,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE PFE opened at $25.83 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $146.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PFE. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.92.

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.