Simon Quick Advisors LLC Sells 2,557 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,448 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,557 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 22.4% during 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 worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $146,481,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after acquiring an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 226.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $179,715,000 after acquiring an additional 4,309,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.01 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.09 and its 200 day moving average is $27.97. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The firm has a market cap of $147.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.