Franklin Resources Inc. Has $435.20 Million Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,403,889 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 25,315 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.29% of Pfizer worth $435,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. United Bank grew its position in Pfizer by 3.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 35,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 4.5% in the third quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter worth $16,776,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 1,399.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 240,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,953,000 after purchasing an additional 224,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 62,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 11,867 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.31. 33,106,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 45,268,156. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.20 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a market cap of $132.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $25.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company's revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.92.

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.