Cascade Investment Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.8% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 739,236 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,684,000 after buying an additional 20,140 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Pfizer by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. now owns 775,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,688,000 after purchasing an additional 58,850 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 10.3% in the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 18,834 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 7.3% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 845,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,661,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.30 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.08 and its 200 day moving average is $27.99. The company has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 232.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.