Cigna Investments Inc. New Sells 853 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Cigna Investments Inc. New cut its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 853 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 279.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378,173 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at approximately $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,481,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 181.6% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,670,445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $212,855,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 24,961.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487,919 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $28.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.56. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.20 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.94%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.58.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.