Swedbank AB Sells 614,657 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Swedbank AB decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,131,174 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 614,657 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.09% of Pfizer worth $136,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 42,677 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.5% during the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 4,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.89. 2,293,779 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,193,898. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $152.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.91. 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 data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given 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 6.40%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Company 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.