Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $10.33 Million Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 389,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,364 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Pfizer were worth $10,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in 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 worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after acquiring an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted 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 business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 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 is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

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.