Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Stock Holdings Lessened by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its stake in Pfizer by 168.3% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.99.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Pfizer Company 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.