Apriem Advisors Reduces Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Apriem Advisors cut its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 55,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,803 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after buying an additional 1,855,419 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the third 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pfizer Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.40 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.36. 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 company has a market cap of $149.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

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.