Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 150.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,098,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 659,601 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $27,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 533,363,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,928,730,000 after purchasing an additional 10,198,330 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 127,471,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,080,552,000 after buying an additional 1,820,634 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at $2,270,157,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,165,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,191,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 2.0% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,390,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,172,980,000 after acquiring an additional 950,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $27.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $156.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.47. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $27.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.19.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 12.42%.The firm had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on PFE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research cut Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.