Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 72,614 Shares of Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,082,631 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 72,614 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $51,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,346,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,479,520,000 after purchasing an additional 7,031,162 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 300,445,164 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,481,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,756 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 130,192,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,235,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,728 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,218,929,000 after purchasing an additional 14,342,946 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,830,986,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Pfizer News

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer’s obesity pipeline gained traction after detailed Phase 2b data for berobenatide showed proof of concept, favorable tolerability, and low reported adverse events. Pfizer has already moved the program into Phase 3, which could support longer-term growth expectations. Pfizer Obesity Pipeline Gains Traction As Berobenatide Data Support Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: CEO comments that Pfizer could return to high-single-digit growth suggest the business may be stabilizing faster than some investors expected, reinforcing the idea that the company’s recent weakness may be overdone. Here’s When Pfizer’s CEO Says the Company Might Get Back to Generating High-Single-Digit Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Pfizer is drawing heavy investor interest and analyst coverage, with recent research pieces focusing on its discounted valuation, pipeline prospects, and post-COVID growth outlook. That keeps sentiment active, but the articles do not point to a single new catalyst. Investors Heavily Search Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Here is What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Pfizer also remained in the news through broader healthcare coverage and research roundups, but these items appear informational rather than stock-moving. Top Research Reports for Pfizer, Altria & Newmont Corp.
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage continues to frame Pfizer as a value stock facing fading COVID revenue and looming patent-cliff pressure, which reminds investors of the company’s near-term growth challenges even as pipeline efforts progress. Is Pfizer’s Discounted Valuation a Buying Opportunity or a Value Trap?

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.34. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $23.11 and a one year high of $28.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $148.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88 and a beta of 0.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm had revenue of $14.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Pfizer from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Pfizer from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.82.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.