BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 14,242 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

BLB&B Advisors LLC lessened its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,789 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,242 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,766,366,000 after buying an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at $146,481,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,546,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 226.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $179,715,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $25.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.29 and a 200-day moving average of $27.77. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Pfizer Company 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.