Verity & Verity LLC Reduces Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Verity & Verity LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,031 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 58,323 shares during the quarter. Pfizer comprises 1.5% of Verity & Verity LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $16,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.30. 35,146,711 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,869,448. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.99. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

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

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.