Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,349,308 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 12.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,088,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,349,308 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $263,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth approximately $315,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Pfizer during the 1st quarter worth $439,000. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at $1,009,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 26.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 554,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,378,000 after acquiring an additional 115,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter worth $482,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.58.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $27.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $31.54. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $28.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

About Pfizer

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.