Hills Bank & Trust Co Decreases Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 747 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on PFE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $28.42 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.56. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.05 billion, a PE ratio of 38.23, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

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.