New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Lowers Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,900 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $7,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Pfizer by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 4,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.62. 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 twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $144.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current 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 $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.