M&G PLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

M&G PLC lessened its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 546,484 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 83,970 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $13,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 46.4% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 145,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after buying an additional 46,043 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,019,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 236.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 48,900 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its position in Pfizer by 29.9% in 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. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 76.4% during the 3rd 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 period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.23. The company has a market capitalization of $156.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.28.

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

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

Pfizer Profile

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.