Hilltop National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its position in Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its stake in Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,965,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,126,992. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.05. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $152.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.