Hills Bank & Trust Co Cuts Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lessened its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 69,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 747 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PFE. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, for a total transaction of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $28.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.56. The company has a market capitalization of $161.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.23, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 227.03%.

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.