ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 337,963 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares during the quarter. Pfizer accounts for 1.0% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $9,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,609 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $477,929,000 after acquiring an additional 456,168 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 4.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,553,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $479,073,000 after buying an additional 658,420 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $417,561,000 after acquiring an additional 470,003 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 4.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 13,118,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $379,657,000 after acquiring an additional 544,418 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,538,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,589,410. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $148.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.68.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.58.

About Pfizer

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.