Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 258,686 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,248 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $274,694,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $1,101,713,000 after buying an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pfizer by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,148,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,760,000 after buying an additional 4,938,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $564,739,000 after buying an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFE. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.18 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.08. The firm has a market cap of $148.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.