Dearborn Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,210 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 38,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 7,549 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lipe & Dalton grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 2,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $26.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.21.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.