Griffin Asset Management Inc. Sells 12,489 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,489 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 2.5% during the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Pfizer by 10.5% in the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 4,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Pfizer Stock Up 2.9 %

PFE stock opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.94. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend 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 6.40%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

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.