PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 411,036 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,040,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 411,036 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $261,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Pfizer by 3.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,609 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,929,000 after buying an additional 456,168 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,553,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $479,073,000 after buying an additional 658,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $417,561,000 after acquiring an additional 470,003 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $24.88 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.65. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $140.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.