Howard Capital Management Inc. Sells 8,104 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 129,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,104 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 11.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter worth about $146,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.