Bank of Montreal Can Trims Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,761,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,574,955 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.19% of Pfizer worth $285,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $421,000. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,693 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,560 shares during the period. Round Hill Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Round Hill Asset Management now owns 152,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,037,000 after purchasing an additional 11,514 shares in the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 88,555 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,349,000 after buying an additional 6,800 shares during the period. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 982,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,052,000 after buying an additional 322,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PFE shares. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $22.99 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.28 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $130.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.