Fernwood Investment Management LLC Sells 5,425 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,829 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,425 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $3,161,261,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393,992 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 30.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 5,185,453 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 219.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,503,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $182,567,000 after buying an additional 3,780,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 38.9% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,028,940 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $332,660,000 after buying an additional 2,807,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $25.65. 41,630,566 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,999,020. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $40.37. The stock has a market cap of $145.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.03, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.96 and its 200 day moving average is $28.36.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. The business 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 firm’s revenue was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 466.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price 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 research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

Pfizer Company 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.