Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by XML Financial LLC

XML Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,451 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 24,568 shares during the quarter. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $4,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 80.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $150.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.98.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Company 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.