Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 210,463 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 506,517,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 210,463 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.97% of Pfizer worth $14,582,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 96,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 7,624 shares in the last quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $424,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,301 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 4,281 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,186 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at $571,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus lowered shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.86.

Pfizer Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.74. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $39.87.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

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.