Garland Capital Management Inc. Sells 15,491 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Garland Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 15,491 shares during the quarter. Pfizer comprises 2.7% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Pfizer by 3.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after buying an additional 2,241,609 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Pfizer by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,929,000 after acquiring an additional 456,168 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $417,561,000 after purchasing an additional 470,003 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 11,516,769 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $333,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,260,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $287,077,000 after purchasing an additional 238,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.75. 6,934,879 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,141,242. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $157.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.20 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s payout ratio 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.