Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,270 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFE. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after buying an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after buying an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after acquiring an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $152.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.94. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.