Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,918,326 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 757,792 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.70% of Pfizer worth $1,059,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Pfizer by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,284,000 after buying an additional 37,636 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 117,755 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 4,915 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,697 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc grew its holdings in Pfizer by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 412,169 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCG Investment Co raised its position in Pfizer by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 18,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $26.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 0.64 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.38.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. 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 121.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.