Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,507,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 44,256 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $225,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 488,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,954,000 after acquiring an additional 69,155 shares during the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 110,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 9,963 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 229,513 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,089,000 after buying an additional 61,737 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its position in Pfizer by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 39,656 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 5,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 584,963 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,519,000 after purchasing an additional 7,544 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFE shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced 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. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $25.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.26 and a 200 day moving average of $27.46. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.73%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.99%.

Pfizer Company 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.