Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,721 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Pfizer were worth $8,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 26,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 58,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 42,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 25,185 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.54.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $29.01. The company had a trading volume of 37,137,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,496,418. The company has a market capitalization of $164.39 billion, a PE ratio of -483.50, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.69. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.20 and a 12-month high of $36.29.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer's payout ratio is -2,800.00%.

Pfizer 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.

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