Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN Lowers Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lowered its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,383 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,336 shares during the period. Pfizer comprises about 0.9% of Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its position in Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE opened at $26.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $151.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.04. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.42%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 232.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PFE. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

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.