Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Capital Corp MA ADV bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth about $1,289,000. WP Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 563.6% in the 4th quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 520,854 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,818,000 after purchasing an additional 442,360 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 19,815 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 5,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 13,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFE. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $146.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

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.