Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 48,397 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFEFree Report) by 60.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,397 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 739,236 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,684,000 after buying an additional 20,140 shares during the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Pfizer by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. now owns 775,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,688,000 after purchasing an additional 58,850 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 18,834 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 7.3% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 845,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,661,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PFE opened at $26.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.99.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFEGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.54%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

View Our Latest Report on Pfizer

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)

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