Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 52.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,465,310 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,709,185 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $65,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Pfizer by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE PFE opened at $26.25 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.03. The company has a market capitalization of $148.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 6.55%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.43%.

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.