Professional Advisory Services Inc. Sells 462 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Professional Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,598 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 462 shares during the period. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $407,730,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $274,694,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Pfizer by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,029,604,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350,381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.17.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of PFE opened at $23.36 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.95 and its 200-day moving average is $25.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.57. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.36%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

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.