Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,844 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $7,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 5,966 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 8,093 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 15,194 shares in the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 14,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 66.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 5,826 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock opened at $26.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a market cap of $149.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.79.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. 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 firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.44%.

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.