River Road Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

River Road Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 51,798 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFE. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group decreased 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.62%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

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.