NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Raises Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 11th, 2023

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Free Report) by 2,523.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 512,716 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 493,170 shares during the period. Pfizer accounts for approximately 0.9% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $20,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 89,592.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 161,143,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,257,000,000 after buying an additional 160,963,976 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,150,472,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,499,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,073,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,419,929 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 13.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,828,849 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,097,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,972,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the first quarter worth about $311,238,000. Institutional investors own 67.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on Pfizer from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on Pfizer from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $43.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $35.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.39. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.35 and a 52-week high of $54.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.23. Pfizer had a net margin of 31.25% and a return on equity of 37.53%. The firm had revenue of $18.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 27th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.28%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.58 per share, with a total value of $38,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,480. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, 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.