Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 6,258 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,258 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $9,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its stake in Pfizer by 168.3% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued 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.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.53 on Wednesday. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average is $27.69. 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 $144.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

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.