AGF Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,175,844 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 87,667 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in Pfizer were worth $31,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,124,330,000 after buying an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,694,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $295,760,000 after purchasing an additional 4,938,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $564,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.92.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Pfizer
Pfizer Trading Down 2.4 %
Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.19. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Pfizer Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. This is a positive change from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Pfizer Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report).
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