Essex Savings Bank Decreases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Essex Savings Bank decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,767 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,333 shares during the quarter. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 42,677 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.5% during the second quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

PFE opened at $26.25 on Thursday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.03. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $148.76 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.55%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.