Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Howard Financial Services LTD.

Howard Financial Services LTD. reduced its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,922 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 133,305 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 20,420 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,096 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 95,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after acquiring an additional 31,010 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PFE opened at $26.30 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $26.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. This is a positive change 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 227.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

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.