IMS Capital Management Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

IMS Capital Management cut its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,791 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. Pfizer makes up 1.3% of IMS Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Pfizer by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Pfizer by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.64 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.63. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during 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 revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

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.