Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 48,397 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 60.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,397 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $26.30. The company had a trading volume of 35,146,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,869,448. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.99. The stock has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. This is a boost from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

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.