Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires 61,737 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,513 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,737 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $564,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $26.32. The stock had a trading volume of 54,560,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,524,395. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.30 and a 200 day moving average of $27.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

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.