Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 1,072 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,405,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,124,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 22.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,286,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $564,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.31 and a 200 day moving average of $27.27. 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 market cap of $146.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.48 and a twelve month high of $31.54.

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

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 121.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research began 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 reduced 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. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

Insider Activity

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock acquired 19,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.