Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. decreased its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,374 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,291 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,284,000 after purchasing an additional 37,636 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 11.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 61,105 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 6,262 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 5.8% during the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.5% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 111,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 120.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,498,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,181,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $148.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.30.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.