Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 51,962 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,140,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 51,962 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $31,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth $16,166,000. First Heartland Consultants Inc. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 13,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 1,729.9% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 47,028 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 44,458 shares during the period. Kempner Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,439,000. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,171,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PFE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.54.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE:PFE traded down $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $28.38. 11,006,893 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,279,637. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.04. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.20 and a 12 month high of $35.28. The firm has a market cap of $160.82 billion, a PE ratio of -477.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.92%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -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.