ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,412 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,966 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the last quarter. Bonness Enterprises Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bonness Enterprises Inc. now owns 161,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,285,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 80.7% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 46,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 20,911 shares in the last quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 92,280 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 80,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FLC Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 47,611 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 8,839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $26.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired 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 $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFE. UBS Group dropped their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.