Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $6.11 Million Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,335 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,947 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Pfizer by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $25.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average of $27.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $146.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

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.