Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Stake Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,088,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,349,308 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Pfizer worth $263,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,531 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,249,991 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth about $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.14.

Pfizer Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 116,162,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,035,680. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $26.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.20. 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 company has a market capitalization of $149.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Pfizer's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. This is a boost from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.43%.

Pfizer 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.