Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.82 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 63,020 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,891 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter worth $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Barclays increased their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $24.80 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $28.64 and a 200-day moving average of $28.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Pfizer Company 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.