Platform Technology Partners Sells 4,821 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Platform Technology Partners decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,769 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,821 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Pfizer were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,481,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Pfizer by 164.2% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 226.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $179,715,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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 lowered 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. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.77. The stock has a market cap of $145.96 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.68%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 232.44%.

About Pfizer

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.