Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Boosts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 528.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,668,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,085,233 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.06% of Pfizer worth $106,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth $315,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth $3,992,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 6.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 317,384 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,808,000 after acquiring an additional 20,241 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth $368,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth $220,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $25.76 on Wednesday. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $145.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.54. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. UBS Group increased their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.92.

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.