Ritholtz Wealth Management Reduces Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Ritholtz Wealth Management cut its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 39.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,490 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 21,777 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Pfizer were worth $888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 42,677 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of PFE stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.30. 35,146,711 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,869,448. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $26.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.99. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.00.

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.