Bank & Trust Co Trims Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bank & Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 36,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PFE. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management increased its position in Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.15.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.30. The company had a trading volume of 14,823,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,958,484. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.07. The firm has a market cap of $154.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released 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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio 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.