Independence Bank of Kentucky Cuts Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Independence Bank of Kentucky lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 9,020 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at $2,129,927,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,886,849,000 after buying an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,985,783,000 after buying an additional 8,473,686 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Pfizer by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after acquiring an additional 8,298,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 248.7% in the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 5,796,012 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,133,786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.86.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.98. The stock had a trading volume of 33,189,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,031,364. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.20 and a 12-month high of $37.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.69. The company has a market cap of $158.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -466.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,799.53%.

Pfizer 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.