Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,908,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 125,520 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $52,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor OS LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 35,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 30,582 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 30,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 16,686 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of PFE traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.77. 35,657,080 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,301,530. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.54 and a 200-day moving average of $27.76. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $37.19. The stock has a market cap of $174.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -512.75, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 0.56% and a positive return on equity of 8.64%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2,799.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PFE. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Pfizer Company 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.