Alberta Investment Management Corp Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Alberta Investment Management Corp reduced its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 95.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,160 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 559,997 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $26.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.41. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $24.48 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $149.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.