Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Guardian Investment Management

Guardian Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,542 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,810 shares during the period. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 279.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PFE. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.99. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Pfizer Profile

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.