Advisors Capital Management LLC Purchases 260,742 Shares of Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,411,463 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 260,742 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $61,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 533,363,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,928,730,000 after acquiring an additional 10,198,330 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 127,471,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,080,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820,634 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,270,157,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,165,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,191,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,390,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,172,980,000 after purchasing an additional 950,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE PFE opened at $27.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.26. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $27.94. The company has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.47.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $17.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 12.42%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lowered Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Pfizer Profile

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.