Empower Advisory Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,852,683 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 177,295 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.07% of Pfizer worth $102,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,068,039 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,701 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9,571.7% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 102,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 101,460 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $4,687,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 189,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,033,000 after purchasing an additional 57,984 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $25.50 on Monday. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.48 and a 12 month high of $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $144.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $17.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is presently 121.99%.

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.