Forza Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Forza Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,908 shares during the quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 14,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 318,954 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,462,000 after purchasing an additional 13,752 shares during the last quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 342,146 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,077,000 after purchasing an additional 32,802 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 41,749 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,772,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,095,820. 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 fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.04.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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 will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.