Heritage Financial Services LLC Sells 1,432 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Heritage Financial Services LLC lessened its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,938 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,432 shares during the period. Heritage Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 100,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after purchasing an additional 8,771 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $118,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,534,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Pfizer by 60.3% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 583,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,329,000 after buying an additional 219,600 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $26.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.90.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly 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 16.28%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 232.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PFE. StockNews.com cut shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.