Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Invests $89,000 in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,194 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after buying an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after buying an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Pfizer by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,817,055,000 after purchasing an additional 348,628 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $2,129,927,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Pfizer by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $28.36 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $160.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -472.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $37.80.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The company’s revenue was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.92%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently -2,799.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.86.

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.