Welch Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Welch Group LLC trimmed its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,032,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 559,366 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $27,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Pfizer by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 22.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.23 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.27 and its 200 day moving average is $27.85. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 0.66 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share 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 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 232.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

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.