ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 3,385 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,385 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $29.66 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.42. The company has a market capitalization of $168.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -494.33, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $33.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2,800.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PFE. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.91.

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.