Pfizer Inc. $PFE Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,364,482 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 148,253 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $81,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,462,431 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $59,295,000 after buying an additional 232,528 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Pfizer by 15.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,482,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $132,365,000 after acquiring an additional 745,213 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the second quarter worth about $4,887,000. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $5,348,000. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in Pfizer by 332.1% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 242,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,829,000 after acquiring an additional 186,053 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Pfizer from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Pfizer from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.39.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE opened at $27.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.35 and its 200-day moving average is $26.37. The stock has a market cap of $157.82 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $29.21.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.80%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 226.32%.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and vaccines. Its portfolio addresses a range of therapeutic areas, including oncology, inflammation and immunology, internal medicine, hospital care, rare diseases and infectious diseases. The company serves patients and healthcare providers in markets worldwide.

Pfizer’s products include the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine, the Prevnar family of pneumococcal vaccines, and medicines such as Eliquis, Ibrance, Vyndaqel and Zavzaret.