Eastern Bank Boosts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Eastern Bank boosted its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 481.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 107,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 88,982 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 1st quarter worth $725,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,005 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528 shares during the last quarter. Kwmg LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 134,132 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,722,000 after purchasing an additional 8,912 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 73,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFE. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.91.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $28.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.20 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -62.71, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.48.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -365.21%.

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.