Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 15,576 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,640,326 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 15,576 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Pfizer were worth $43,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 73,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 35,937 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Symphony Financial Services Inc. now owns 13,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $362,000. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 104,395 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,152,861 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $136,705,000 after buying an additional 1,666,189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.93. 37,049,759 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,279,996. The company's 50 day moving average price is $26.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.27. The firm has a market cap of $146.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. 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 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm's revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%. Pfizer's payout ratio is 121.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.