Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC

Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,241 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,817 shares during the period. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Pfizer by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after buying an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 394.2% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after acquiring an additional 639,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Trading Down 1.3 %

PFE opened at $26.10 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.11 and its 200-day moving average is $27.94. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.