Swiss National Bank Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,388,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 779,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Pfizer worth $417,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 46.4% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 145,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 46,043 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,019,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its stake in Pfizer by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 248,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,325,000 after buying an additional 57,188 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 236.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,774,000 after buying an additional 48,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 76.4% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 109,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,784,000 after buying an additional 47,319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $27.07 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.47. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month high of $27.94. The firm has a market cap of $153.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 12.42%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 126.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PFE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research set a $24.00 target price on Pfizer and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Pfizer from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.05.

Pfizer Company Profile

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.