Parthenon LLC Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Parthenon LLC lessened its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,089 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,513 shares during the quarter. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% during the third 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 during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 422,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,217,000 after acquiring an additional 151,293 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 481.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 107,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 88,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.1% in the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 41,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 6,586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.87 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.45. The company has a market capitalization of $146.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. This is a boost 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 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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.