Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Has $479.07 Million Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,553,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 658,420 shares during the quarter. Pfizer accounts for approximately 1.9% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.29% of Pfizer worth $479,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $198,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 51.9% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,884,493 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $83,477,000 after buying an additional 985,058 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 99,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,870,000 after buying an additional 3,917 shares during the period. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 299,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,656,000 after purchasing an additional 22,199 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Pfizer from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.39. 23,918,139 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,520,965. The firm's 50 day moving average is $28.89 and its 200 day moving average is $28.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $149.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.