Sheets Smith Wealth Management Reduces Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Pfizer by 279.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at $146,481,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 164.2% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 4,546,809 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE opened at $26.63 on Wednesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

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.