Optas LLC Trims Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Optas LLC lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 7.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,285 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 759 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 2.1% in the first quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 58,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 42,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 1.5% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 25,185 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 35,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.54.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.90. 21,885,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,008,852. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.96. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $36.94. The firm has a market cap of $163.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -481.67, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,800.00%.

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.