First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Has $6.80 Million Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 235,002 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 15,439 shares during the quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,609 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Pfizer by 2.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,929,000 after acquiring an additional 456,168 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 3.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $417,561,000 after acquiring an additional 470,003 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Pfizer by 18.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 11,516,769 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $333,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,762,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 2.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,260,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $287,077,000 after acquiring an additional 238,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.63. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.58.

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.