Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 581,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 77,017 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $15,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 1.3 %

PFE stock opened at $26.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.36.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

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.