Meeder Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 68.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,480 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 80.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 394.2% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 26.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,872,000 after acquiring an additional 639,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 4.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 13,118,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $379,657,000 after acquiring an additional 544,418 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $24.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.61. The company has a market cap of $141.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.67. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on PFE shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.92.

Pfizer 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.