Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Has $444.76 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,895,577 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 210,435 shares during the quarter. Pfizer accounts for 1.9% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $444,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 1.3% during the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 26,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 7.3% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 2.1% during the first quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 58,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,632,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 0.8% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 42,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.54.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $29.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.12. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $34.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $165.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -487.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.68.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is -2,799.53%.

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.