Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 72.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 531,663 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Pfizer by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 1,500,026 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $39,796,000 after purchasing an additional 26,451 shares in the last quarter. Natixis lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 190.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 5,276,396 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $139,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,461,074 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in Pfizer by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 254,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,749,000 after buying an additional 21,283 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam raised its stake in Pfizer by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 265,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,049,000 after buying an additional 81,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 349,653 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,276,000 after acquiring an additional 33,489 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFE. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.07.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $22.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $125.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $31.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.