Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 8,108,887 Shares of Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 47.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,070,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,108,887 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $638,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,198,330 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 127,471,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,080,552,000 after buying an additional 1,820,634 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,270,157,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,288,054 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,255,860,000 after buying an additional 897,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 2.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,165,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,191,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PFE. Zacks Research raised shares of Pfizer from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $24.00 price target on shares of Pfizer and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.05.

Key Pfizer News

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: China approved Pfizer’s GLP?1 weight?management drug Xianweiying for long?term use in overweight/obese adults — opens a large new commercial market and intensifies competition in the GLP?1 class, supporting upside to revenue growth if launch execution is strong. Pfizer’s Weight Management Drug Wins China Approval
• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer completed a Phase 2 toddler study for its next?generation pneumococcal vaccine — a positive clinical read that advances a pipeline asset with potential to drive future vaccine revenues and support longer?term growth. Pfizer Advances Next-Gen Pneumococcal Vaccine With Completed Phase 2 Toddler Study
• Neutral Sentiment: Pfizer commentary on regulatory agility — company regulatory lead outlines strategies to navigate shifting approval environments; useful for long?term program risk management but unlikely to move the stock near?term. Be nimble, be ready: how to tackle regulatory uncertainty in clinical trials
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation pieces (Yahoo/Seeking Alpha) debate whether Pfizer’s current price captures post?pandemic pipeline and patent risks — these analyses reinforce mixed investor views: stable cash flows and dividends vs. legacy product cliffs and pipeline uncertainty. Does Pfizer (PFE) Offer Value After Post Pandemic Pipeline And Patent Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Patent/legal developments in the sector affected peers and related stocks — a patent “shake?up” around tafamidis helped BridgeBio trade higher, illustrating ongoing IP risk and competitive uncertainties that can indirectly pressure Pfizer where patent battles exist. Why BridgeBio Leapfrogged Its 50-Day Line On Pfizer’s Patent Shake-Up
• Negative Sentiment: Sector headlines (e.g., BioNTech leadership changes) are creating rotation and volatility in vaccine/biotech names; while not directly about Pfizer, this can weigh on sentiment for large pharma stocks during risk?off moves. BioNTech Cofounders To Step Down. Stock Crumbles.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $27.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $155.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.43 and a 200-day moving average of $25.50.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 12.42%.Pfizer’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 126.47%.

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.