Vanguard Group Inc. Has $13.61 Billion Holdings in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 534,315,020 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 951,563 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Pfizer worth $13,614,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,270,157,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 43.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,718,955 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $453,747,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662,309 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 75.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,689,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $221,398,000 after acquiring an additional 3,722,531 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 84.9% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,561,946 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $183,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,472,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 511.4% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,137,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460,717 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of PFE opened at $27.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $156.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.47. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $27.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.20.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 12.42%.The business had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PFE. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Daiwa America cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.