Tufton Capital Management Sells 599 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Tufton Capital Management decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 140,570 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,729,000 after buying an additional 868 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 169,634 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,500,000 after buying an additional 17,050 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 134,806 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,576,000 after buying an additional 7,320 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 46,491 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Finally, Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 125,442 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 1.3 %

PFE opened at $26.09 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week 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 has a market capitalization of $147.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.35.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.