Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 394,773 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 32,241 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Pfizer were worth $11,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 61.6% in the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 29,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 11,215 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,774 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.9% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 152,584 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after acquiring an additional 4,350 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Marin boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Marin now owns 8,430 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 4.5% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 678,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,643,000 after buying an additional 28,933 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $24.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $140.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.64. 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

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.