Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,142,608 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 58,160 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $30,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Pfizer by 279.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the third quarter worth about $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.