Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 13,228 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,478 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,228 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corundum Group Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 31,241 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 17,439 shares during the period. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at $986,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 81,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 14,050 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 69,047 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 235,121 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,000 after purchasing an additional 9,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.17.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE PFE opened at $24.20 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.85. The stock has a market cap of $137.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.57.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 124.64%.

Pfizer 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.