Farmers Trust Co. Lowers Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Farmers Trust Co. lessened its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 226,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,744 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up about 1.1% of Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% during the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 42,677 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:PFE traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $26.96. The company had a trading volume of 23,718,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,519,582. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.27 and a 200 day moving average of $28.07. 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 company has a market cap of $152.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 232.43%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.