Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,189 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,377 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,161,261,000 after purchasing an additional 9,393,992 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $797,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,678,004 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Pfizer by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,997,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,185,453 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Pfizer by 219.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,503,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $182,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Pfizer by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,984,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $373,813,000 after buying an additional 3,265,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.00.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $27.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.12. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $40.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -471.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.58%. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

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.