Morningstar Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,998 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 6,972,650 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Pfizer in the first quarter worth approximately $311,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,584,761 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,599,270,000 after buying an additional 5,139,634 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Pfizer by 108.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,909,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $409,483,000 after buying an additional 4,112,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmp Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 4,914.8% in the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 3,311,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $64,634,000 after buying an additional 3,245,804 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.62% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.58 per share, for a total transaction of $38,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,480. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.58 per share, for a total transaction of $38,580.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,480. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Pfizer Inc acquired 1,811,594 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.76 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,999.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,952,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,428,245.88. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 1,813,594 shares of company stock worth $5,076,999 in the last ninety days. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Pfizer from $41.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $40.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.33.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,647,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,895,004. The stock has a market cap of $212.94 billion, a PE ratio of 7.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.17 and a fifty-two week high of $54.93. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.18.

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

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.28%.

About Pfizer

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Pfizer Inc is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. It engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of biopharmaceutical products worldwide. The firm works across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases.