Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 24.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,362 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 19,430 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its holdings in Pfizer by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 20,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 15,706,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $452,203,000 after acquiring an additional 115,392 shares during the period. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,208,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 142,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,484,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of PFE stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.93. The company had a trading volume of 16,630,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,524,934. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.93 billion, a PE ratio of -483.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $28.77 and its 200 day moving average is $27.88. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $37.19.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,800.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.54.

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.