First Merchants Corp Cuts Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Merchants Corp cut its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,780 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 361 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $28.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $36.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.96. The company has a market capitalization of $163.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -481.67, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 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 5.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2,800.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.