Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,899 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,777 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 41,668 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after acquiring an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.7 %

PFE stock opened at $26.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.99. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.