MCF Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

MCF Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 511 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Pfizer by 279.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after buying an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Pfizer by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $211,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $26.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $150.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.