Lafayette Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.4% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 25,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,499,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.4% in the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,649,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $22.10 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $125.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.33.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.07.

About Pfizer

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.