Artemis Investment Management LLP Lowers Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 448,076 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,051 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $11,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Pfizer by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 739,236 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,684,000 after acquiring an additional 20,140 shares during the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 15.1% during the second quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares in the last quarter. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 8.2% during the second quarter. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. now owns 775,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,688,000 after buying an additional 58,850 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 18,834 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 845,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,661,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $26.30 on Monday. 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 twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.99. The firm has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.54%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 232.43%.

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.