Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Abbrea Capital LLC

Abbrea Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 74,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,250 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,161,261,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393,992 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $797,901,000 after buying an additional 5,678,004 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,997,083,000 after buying an additional 5,185,453 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 219.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,503,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $182,567,000 after buying an additional 3,780,696 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,028,940 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $332,660,000 after buying an additional 2,807,846 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.38. 46,464,132 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,010,875. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.48. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $40.37.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.29. Pfizer had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 3.62%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 466.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Argus cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen cut Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

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.