Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Advisor Resource Council

Advisor Resource Council lessened its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 51.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 10,557 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $2,129,927,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after acquiring an additional 11,099,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after acquiring an additional 8,473,686 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Pfizer by 13.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, Ruffer LLP raised its holdings in Pfizer by 248.7% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 5,796,012 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,133,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus lowered Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.54.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE opened at $27.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.20 and a 1 year high of $37.80. The stock has a market cap of $156.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -461.59, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Pfizer’s dividend 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.