Howard Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Howard Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Howard Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.62.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.