Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 14,555 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,640 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 14,555 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.93. 37,049,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,279,996. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.27.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Pfizer's revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. This is a boost from Pfizer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price objective 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.