Sanders Morris Harris LLC Cuts Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC cut its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the second quarter worth $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.03. The stock has a market cap of $147.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PFE. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.