Wealth Alliance Cuts Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Wealth Alliance decreased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,391 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,149 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38,015 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $146.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average is $27.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.