GAMMA Investing LLC Sells 2,558 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

GAMMA Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,346 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,558 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Swiss National Bank boosted 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 purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 227,349 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Pfizer by 26.0% during the 3rd 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. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.1 %

PFE opened at $26.59 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.07. The company has a market capitalization of $150.69 billion, a PE ratio of 35.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 232.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.14.

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.