Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,623,356 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,069,359 shares during the period. Pfizer accounts for 2.2% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned 0.33% of Pfizer worth $494,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Pfizer by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $564,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,549 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $25.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $145.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.17.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

About Pfizer

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.