Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Sells 7,517 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,482 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,517 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,819,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,762,000 after buying an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 11.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 80.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,709,000 after acquiring an additional 227,349 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 394.2% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 52,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 41,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Pfizer by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,105,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,872,000 after purchasing an additional 639,985 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $25.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.