Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 108,863 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 19.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 671,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,863 shares during the period. Pfizer comprises about 1.9% of Verity & Verity LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $19,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter worth about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter worth $29,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $24.88 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.