Verity & Verity LLC Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 405,984 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,983 shares during the period. Pfizer comprises approximately 1.9% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $14,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,424,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $52,266,000 after purchasing an additional 472,231 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 39,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 17,206 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 120,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,411,000 after buying an additional 6,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 92,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,396,000 after buying an additional 9,348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.05% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PFE opened at $34.07 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.54 and a 52-week high of $54.93. The company has a market capitalization of $192.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Pfizer had a return on equity of 28.36% and a net margin of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 54.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 27th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 43.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Pfizer from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. HSBC assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Pfizer from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.35.

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, 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.