Acas LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Acas LLC cut its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 960 shares during the quarter. Acas LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.9% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 9,393,992 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,817,055,000 after acquiring an additional 348,628 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 9.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,997,083,000 after buying an additional 5,185,453 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $797,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,678,004 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 18,380,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $609,692,000 after purchasing an additional 101,256 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Argus downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded down $0.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $25.63. 9,448,029 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,440,848. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.05 and a 200-day moving average of $28.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.61. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.23 and a 12 month high of $40.37.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.37 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s revenue was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 466.67%.

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.