Westchester Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,444 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Westchester Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 273,109 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,444 shares during the quarter. Pfizer accounts for approximately 1.8% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $7,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,539 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855,419 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during 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 worth $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726,549 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. 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 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.62%. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 121.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.