Violich Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,800 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Violich Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,237 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,800 shares during the quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its position in Pfizer by 102.8% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Pfizer during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its holdings in Pfizer by 168.3% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $25.87 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.48 and a 12-month high of $31.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.72. The company has a market capitalization of $146.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

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.