Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Stake Lowered by Bell Investment Advisors Inc

Bell Investment Advisors Inc decreased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,147 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,135 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $83,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 38,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 7,549 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Lipe & Dalton lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 2,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PFE shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $26.71 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued 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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 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.