Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Waverton Investment Management Ltd

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 42.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,444 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,500 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during 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 last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 226.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $179,715,000 after buying an additional 4,309,076 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.40.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer 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.