Marco Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Marco Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 146,532 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $595,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 422,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,209,000 after acquiring an additional 30,207 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 11,390 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044 shares during the period. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $274,694,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.65 per share, with a total value of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.0 %

PFE stock opened at $26.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $148.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.26.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released 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. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 121.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.92.

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.