Pfizer Inc (PFE)

A very defensive stock with great products and brand, but little earnings growth, not enough for him. Pays a good dividend yield and the company won't go out of business. It will weather this downturn. He prefers Gilead.

Very much a value stock. Not a lot of growth. You can’t too far wrong at these levels. He likes a little more growth.

Not a big owner of pharmaceuticals, because they’re under pricing pressure. Pfizer’s thinking of selling off consumer division. It’s OK, but the medical device sector’s doing better than pharma. Whole sector’s not performing well. Only pharma he owns is Novo Nordisk.

(A Top Pick May 31/17 Up 20%) A stable, old-school pharma company. They can still spin out some businesses and they have a lot good projects in the pipeline.

140 drugs that generate over $100 million in revenues. They have a good pipeline. Some interesting data on pain medication. Consistent revenue. Great valuation. There is no reason why this company shouldn’t be trading at 14 times earnings and it is trading at 11.5x. he expects a multiple expansion.

(A Top Pick June 16/17, Up 12% ) Likes pharma and owns a couple of them. The time to buy is when they are facing a patent clift, and their biggest drugs are coming off-patents and the company has to find new drugs or buy other promising companies. Pfizer was one of those when they bought Wyeth. They have a big consumer products division, which provides lots of cash flow, good earnings but not huge growth, which they put up for sell recently but couldn’t really find a buyer. Still likes it longer term.

(A Top Pick September 5/17 Up 12%) He still likes this, including the close to 4% yield. It is probably the “bluest” blue chip out there in the health sector.

He's gone the biotech route in the drug sector. Over the years, he has owned the big pharmas, but their growth has stagnated with growth in earnings done through cost containment--and you can't cut forever. Topline growth is better which is where he looks first in a stock. Pfizer hasn't had this.

It's trading where it was 20 years ago, as with many large US drug stocks, due to tough FDA approval. He's very cautious in this sector. All countries are struggling with rising health costs.

Teva or Pfizer? He sold Teva 18 months ago. Generic drug prices are under pressure though have levelled off. Their migraine drug has struggled. Instead, he prefers Pfizer with 140 drugs generating $100 million in revenues. They make good acquisitions and are enjoying great progress in oncology. They're also repatriating $24.5 billion with $5 million going to buybacks. Just announced they want to sell their consumer products division, so the impact of this is unknown. 12x forward earnings. Fabulously run company. Talk of major acquisitions. Happy to hold this.

Likes healthcare. Boasts a 3.7% yield that'll likely increase, decent cash flow and growth. Company could spin-off.

Like many of the other major pharma companies has gone through their patent cliffs. It is trading at an attractive multiple and has an attractive dividend yield. She prefers Johnson & Johnson (JNJ-O).

Likes healthcare, but he has a tough time with drug companies. It takes a long time to get a patent with lots of research. Pfzier, though, has legacy, long-term drugs to draw on. This is an income vehicle. Doesn't expect new products right now. An income, not a growth play.

You could ask if there is a better way to hold it so that you get a currency hedge. ZUH-T does this to give you healthcare sector exposure. He would wait until the dollar moves back to 77 cents. If the Canadian dollar was higher than 80 cents you would not want hedged exposure.

If you exclude the impact of the Hosperian Fusion System divestiture, revenues for the quarter increased 4%. They've done OK, but thank God for tax cuts, because on a dividend standard, they've had 9% five-year growth, but the average for 10 years has been 1%.