Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $29.22 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,101,225 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 13,976 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $29,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Pfizer by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $26.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

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.