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

Parthenon LLC decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,089 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,513 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 71,410 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 15,211 shares during the period. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 3,897 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 673.9% during the 4th quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 107,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,850,000 after buying an additional 93,533 shares during the period. Plan Group Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 35,789 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 4,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allied Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 262,737 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,970,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One 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, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $25.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.45. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio 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.