Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 5,073 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,073 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 22.4% in 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 buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,760,000 after buying an additional 4,938,209 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during the 4th 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. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during 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 buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.8 %

Pfizer stock opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.30. 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 market cap of $148.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.