Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Sells 63,000 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 60.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 63,000 shares during the quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Pfizer by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after purchasing an additional 11,099,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after acquiring an additional 8,473,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $2,129,927,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,972,300,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298,920 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Pfizer by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,104,088 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,593,000 after purchasing an additional 290,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.01. 37,137,599 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,838,326. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.20 and a twelve month high of $36.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $164.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -483.42, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.54.

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.