Pzena Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Pzena Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,951,579 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 330,130 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 0.12% of Pfizer worth $184,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 20,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Claris Advisors LLC MO raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 11,021 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $1,095,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 247,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,574,000 after acquiring an additional 13,350 shares during the period. Finally, Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $150.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.21. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

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 business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.46%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

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.