Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 804 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 804 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 26,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in Pfizer by 7.3% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 2.1% during the first quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 58,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.58.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.02 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.46 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) 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 company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.