Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 202,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 17,896 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Pfizer by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 417,070 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,007,000 after acquiring an additional 18,611 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Pfizer by 40.5% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,739,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $157,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,295 shares in the last quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $16,166,000. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 173,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,004,000 after purchasing an additional 74,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.54.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $27.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $157.70 billion, a PE ratio of -463.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.05. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $37.80.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. Pfizer’s revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 25th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is -2,799.53%.

Pfizer Company 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.