Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Procyon Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,111 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,129,927,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Pfizer by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after purchasing an additional 11,099,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after buying an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after buying an additional 8,298,920 shares during the period. Finally, Ruffer LLP grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 248.7% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 5,796,012 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,837,000 after buying an additional 4,133,786 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $27.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $37.80. The company has a market cap of $157.53 billion, a PE ratio of -463.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently -2,799.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.86.

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.