Ascentis Independent Advisors Boosts Stake in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Ascentis Independent Advisors grew its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 106.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,810 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,963 shares during the quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors’ holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,830,986,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Pfizer by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,218,929,000 after buying an additional 14,342,946 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Pfizer by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,514,971 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,208,023,000 after buying an additional 13,581,757 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,070,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $638,787,000 after buying an additional 8,108,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 577.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,786,084 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $218,817,000 after acquiring an additional 7,489,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Pfizer from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.59.

Pfizer Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $23.74 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.23. The company has a market capitalization of $135.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.11 and a 1 year high of $28.75.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 11.83%.The company had revenue of $14.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 131.30%.

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.