Whitener Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 42.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 22,145 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,995 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 127,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,395,000 after acquiring an additional 48,397 shares in the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 11,598 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 9,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,857,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.30 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced 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 net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

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.