ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 83.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 158,885 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,161,261,000 after purchasing an additional 9,393,992 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $797,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,678,004 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,997,083,000 after acquiring an additional 5,185,453 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Pfizer by 219.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,503,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $182,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Pfizer by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,984,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $373,813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.81. 60,568,852 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,900,304. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.21. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.20 and a 1 year high of $40.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.58% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,799.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

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.