Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,482 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,517 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Pfizer by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.77.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

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.