Meritage Portfolio Management Reduces Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,626 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Pfizer Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.83 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 232.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

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.