Fernwood Investment Management LLC Sells 3,000 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 26.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Pfizer by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,609 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $477,929,000 after acquiring an additional 456,168 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Pfizer by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $417,561,000 after acquiring an additional 470,003 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,260,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $287,077,000 after purchasing an additional 238,850 shares during the period. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Pfizer by 10.3% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,803,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $274,302,000 after purchasing an additional 912,156 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa America upgraded Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.58.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.7 %

PFE traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.09. The stock had a trading volume of 46,894,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,200,524. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $159.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.59.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Pfizer’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.98%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.