Bank Hapoalim BM Reduces Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bank Hapoalim BM lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,100 shares during the quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in Pfizer by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,154,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,407,000 after purchasing an additional 74,737 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,904 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 13,097 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Pfizer by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 113,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,285,000 after buying an additional 28,658 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 34,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 59,981 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,736,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $25.88 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 232.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

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.