Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PFE. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth about $30,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 52,350.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen cut shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.33.

Pfizer Stock Down 3.8 %

PFE traded down $1.01 on Thursday, reaching $25.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 47,041,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,958,969. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $143.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.61. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.23 and a fifty-two week high of $40.37.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.37 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 3.62%. Pfizer’s revenue was down 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.