First Manhattan CO. LLC. Trims Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 422,701 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 43,992 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $11,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285,276 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Pfizer by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after buying an additional 25,315,159 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923,537 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth about $2,328,986,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Pfizer by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,029,604,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350,381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $22.28 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $126.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.72%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 124.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. The trade was a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.