Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 6,300 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $4,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 15.3% during the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,347 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Pfizer by 206.9% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 73,946 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,069,000 after buying an additional 49,851 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 128,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131 shares during the period. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 725,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,304,000 after acquiring an additional 168,724 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE opened at $26.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.09 and its 200-day moving average is $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.54%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on PFE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.