Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Trims Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 19.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 938,991 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 228,173 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $26,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $2,129,927,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after acquiring an additional 11,099,024 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Pfizer by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $172,902,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,947,000 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.2 %

Pfizer stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $28.89. 2,077,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,119,352. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -475.92, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.05. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $34.62.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2,799.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFE. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.54.

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.