Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,409,705 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 126,247 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $63,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 38,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 7,549 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 2,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,444 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 114,358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.1%

PFE opened at $23.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.22. 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 $20.92 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.47%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.17.

About Pfizer

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.