King Luther Capital Management Corp Buys 143,833 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,501,015 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,833 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $72,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFE. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $24.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

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.