Defender Capital LLC. Reduces Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Defender Capital LLC. decreased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,935 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up about 0.2% of Defender Capital LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 394.2% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Pfizer by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.4 %

PFE stock opened at $26.65 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.18 and a 200-day moving average of $27.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 36.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS 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 given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.