HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 27,391 Shares of Pfizer Inc. $PFE

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,744,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27,391 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $69,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 46.4% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 145,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 46,043 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,019,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 236.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 48,900 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its holdings in Pfizer by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 248,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 57,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. lifted its stake in Pfizer by 76.4% in the third quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 109,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 47,319 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock opened at $27.58 on Tuesday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.92 and a 1-year high of $27.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.23. The company has a market capitalization of $156.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 126.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Pfizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.00.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.