Townsquare Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 28.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 742,714 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 166,709 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $21,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Pfizer by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Pfizer by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $145.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.92.

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.