Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,371,648 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 32,231 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $161,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after buying an additional 2,285,276 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923,537 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,328,986,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Pfizer by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,029,604,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350,381 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Pfizer by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 58,382,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,548,889,000 after purchasing an additional 4,167,222 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.67 and its 200 day moving average is $24.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $144.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.58. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The company’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 124.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFE. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.55.

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.