Kovack Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 96,385 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,945 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,161,261,000 after purchasing an additional 9,393,992 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $797,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,678,004 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Pfizer by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,997,083,000 after acquiring an additional 5,185,453 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Pfizer by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,503,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $182,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,780,696 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Pfizer by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,028,940 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $332,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807,846 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.38. The company had a trading volume of 46,479,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,011,723. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.42. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $40.37. The firm has a market cap of $143.72 billion, a PE ratio of 70.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. Pfizer had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 466.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. TD Cowen cut shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

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.