Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,334 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,253 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its stake in Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PFE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PFE stock opened at $26.30 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.99. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The company has a market cap of $149.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.43%.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Scott Gottlieb purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.