Chase Investment Counsel Corp Trims Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp cut its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 93.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 171,298 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $304,000 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. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP raised 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 buying an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.43 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $149.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. 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 6.51%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.