Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Position Cut by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,933 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,025 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of PFE opened at $26.71 on Monday. 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 P/E ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.23.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.