Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 6,485,010 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec trimmed its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 69.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,816,122 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,485,010 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $74,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PFE. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Pfizer Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $23.91 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.82. The firm has a market cap of $135.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 124.64%.

Pfizer Company 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.