Pfizer Inc.

PFIZER INC. $35 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 6.3 billion; Market cap: $220.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for new breast cancer drug palbociclib. Pfizer will market this treatment under the Ibrance brand.

Ibrance will probably contribute $4 billion to the company’s annual revenue by 2020; last year, Pfizer’s revenue was $49.6 billion.

The company spends a high 17% of its revenue on research. This hurts its short-term earnings but lets it develop innovative drugs like Ibrance. New treatments like these help Pfizer offset sales of other drugs that have lost their patent protection, like Lipitor (cholesterol) and Celebrex (arthritis).

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SYMANTEC CORP., $24.77, Nasdaq symbol SYMC, reported better-than-expected earnings this week. The company sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended January 2, 2015, Symantec earned $367 million, unchanged from a year earlier. However, per-share earnings rose 1.9%, to $0.53 from $0.52, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus forecast of $0.48....

Vanguard Health Care ETF, $128.42, symbol VHT on New York (Units outstanding: 33.7 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion; www.vanguard.com), holds 48 U.S. health care stocks. Its top holdings are Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck & Co., Gilead Sciences, Amgen, AbbVie, UnitedHealth Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene and Biogen Idec. The fund has a low 0.12% MER and a 1.0% dividend yield....

MONSANTO CO., $119.04, New York symbol MON, sells technology-based agricultural products, such as genetically modified seeds, to farmers, grain processors and food companies. It also sells weed- and pest-control products. In the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, which ended November 30, 2014, Monsanto earned $243 million, down 34.0% from $368 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 27.5%, to $0.50 from $0.69, on fewer shares outstanding. Without unusual items, earnings per share declined 29.9%, to $0.47 from $0.67, but that still beat the consensus forecast of $0.35. Sales fell 8.7%, to $2.9 billion from $3.1 billion, but that also beat the consensus forecast of $2.8 billion....

The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF, $38.79, symbol SDOG on New York (Units outstanding: 24.3 million; Market cap: $942.6 million; www.alpssectordividenddogs.com), is an ETF that applies the “Dogs of the Dow” theory on a sector-by-sector basis using the stocks in the S&P 500. The fund’s MER is 0.40%. The Dogs of the Dow approach involves buying the lowest-priced, highest-yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. At the end of each year, you pick the 10 stocks from the 30-stock Dow with the highest dividend yields. You then invest an equal dollar amount in each, hold them for one year and repeat these steps annually. The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF picks five stocks from each of the 10 sectors as defined by the S&P 500 index—consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, telecommunication services and utilities. The ETF picks the stocks with the highest dividend yields. Each holding is then equally weighted so that every company has a similar influence on the ETF’s total return. The end result is a portfolio of 50 large cap stocks....

Here are four we cover in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. Three are buys and one is a hold. C.R. Bard, $166.50, symbol BCR on New York (Shares outstanding: 74.9 million; Market cap: $12.6 billion; www.crbard.com), continues to develop successful new medical devices. For example, it should soon receive approval to start selling a catheter that uses a drug-coated balloon to treat clogged arteries. Products like this are helping Bard offset the 2.3% tax it has to pay on certain medical devices it sells in the U.S. under Obamacare. C.R. Bard is a buy. Pfizer, $30.29, symbol PFE on New York (Shares outstanding: 6.3 billion; Market cap: $190.4 billion; www.pfizer.com), is the world’s largest maker of prescription drugs. Its main brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis), Viagra (erectile dysfunction) and Prevnar (a pneumonia vaccine). The company also makes popular over the-counter drugs, including Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup). Pfizer is a buy....

PETSMART INC., $78.70, Nasdaq symbol PETM, operates 1,387 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 201 in-store PetsHotel boarding facilities for dogs and cats. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended November 2, 2014, PetSmart’s earnings declined 0.1%, to $92.16 million from $92.22 million a year earlier. However, earnings per share rose 4.5%, to $0.92 from $0.88, on fewer shares outstanding. Activist investment firms Jana Partners and Longview Asset Management each own about 9% of the company’s stock. Under pressure from these investors, PetSmart is now lowering its overhead and other costs, with the goal of cutting $200 million from its annual expenses by the end of fiscal 2016....

VISA INC., $241.43, New York symbol V, hit an all-time high of $242.50 this week after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. In its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter, which ended September 30, 2014, Visa’s earnings rose 13.8%, to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 17.8%, to $2.18 from $1.85, on fewer shares outstanding. The latest earnings exclude a $450-million lawsuit settlement. On that basis, they beat the consensus estimate of $2.10 a share. Revenue rose 8.6%, to $3.23 billion from $2.97 billion, also beating the consensus forecast of $3.19 billion....

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $194.35 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. companies that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, Chevron, General Electric, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, IBM, Pfizer, Verizon and AT&T. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

If you want exposure to the S&P 500 Index, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF is a buy.

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Crescent Point Energy, $35.01, symbol CPG on Toronto, is a buy in Canadian Wealth Advisor for the Resources segment of a portfolio. Newell Rubbermaid, $32.87, symbol NWL on New York, is our #1 buy for 2014 in Wall Street Stock Forecaster. Pfizer, $28.46, symbol PFE on New York, is a Best Buy in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster....