Sciencast Management LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Sciencast Management LP trimmed its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 13.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,648 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,535 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Pfizer by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after buying an additional 11,099,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,985,783,000 after buying an additional 8,473,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,129,927,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,813,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,178 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday. Argus lowered shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.69.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.92. 28,153,470 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,011,234. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $37.80. The company has a market capitalization of $163.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -482.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.72.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2,800.00%.

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.