Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,843 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 36,202 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $7,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,284,000 after buying an additional 37,636 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 54.8% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 9,102 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Pfizer by 132.8% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 11,615 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 64,014 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after acquiring an additional 9,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 25,835 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PFE. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.40 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.34 and its 200-day moving average is $27.36. 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 company has a market capitalization of $149.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate 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.