Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $1.27 Million Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,982 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 18,522 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Pfizer by 102.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7 %

PFE stock opened at $25.93 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.27. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $146.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFE. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research assumed 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. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.