Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 304,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $8,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its stake in Pfizer by 168.3% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research initiated 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. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.3 %

PFE opened at $25.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.69. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

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.