Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,085 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 127,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,085 shares during the period. Pfizer comprises 1.5% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,275 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 5,682 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% during the first quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 80.9% in the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 38,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 17,430 shares during the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.2% during the first quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 64,723 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFE shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.58.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock traded down $0.73 on Tuesday, reaching $28.13. The company had a trading volume of 38,165,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,860,926. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.40 billion, a PE ratio of -61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.08 and its 200 day moving average is $28.54. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.96 billion. During the same quarter 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently -365.21%.

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.