Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,936,333 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 853,282 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $84,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $30,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 304.9% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 52,350.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PFE shares. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen cut shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.6 %

PFE traded up $0.14 on Friday, reaching $25.40. 46,526,457 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,120,812. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $40.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.39. The company has a market cap of $143.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 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.