Augustine Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 17,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 117.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 69,178 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 37,293 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 23,274 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 5,205 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 15.5% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 8,484 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 80.1% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 46,207 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 20,552 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.3 %

PFE stock opened at $25.53 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average is $27.69. The firm has a market cap of $144.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.74%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

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.