Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,809,274 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 207,222 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $127,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 14,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 49,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 10.5% in the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 4,073 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7 %

PFE stock opened at $25.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $145.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $31.54. 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 (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

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.