Hourglass Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hourglass Capital LLC increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 42.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 397,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,820 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up approximately 2.9% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $10,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $25.50 on Friday. 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 one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $144.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.