Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 665,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 184,109 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $17,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after buying an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the third 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $25.87 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. 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 $146.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.65%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.