Country Trust Bank Trims Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Country Trust Bank cut its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 100,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after buying an additional 8,771 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $118,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth about $16,534,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 60.3% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 583,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,329,000 after acquiring an additional 219,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 1.0 %

Pfizer stock opened at $26.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $152.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a PEG 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.25 and its 200-day moving average is $27.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $17.70 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PFE. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, 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 objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.