Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,270 shares during the quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter worth about $146,481,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 164.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,316,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $211,737,000 after buying an additional 4,546,809 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 226.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,209,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $179,715,000 after buying an additional 4,309,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 2.9 %

Pfizer stock opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.11 and its 200-day moving average is $27.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $152.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 227.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.