Meridian Financial Partners LLC Grows Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 72,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 8,320 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,257,523 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,866,000 after purchasing an additional 156,298 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 330,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,381,000 after purchasing an additional 31,344 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,396 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 36,279 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 14,220 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PFE. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.17.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $23.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $132.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.95 and a 200-day moving average of $25.00. 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 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.36%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 124.64%.

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.