Wedbush Securities Inc. Trims Position in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,756 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $4,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 856.8% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,053,828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $508,164,000 after purchasing an additional 17,957,928 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 52,090,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,265,277,000 after buying an additional 15,758,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the 1st quarter worth $389,861,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 51.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,456,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $670,407,000 after buying an additional 9,041,990 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 523,165,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,257,004,000 after acquiring an additional 4,629,976 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $24.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.35. The company has a market cap of $138.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month high of $27.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.08. Pfizer had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 16.84%.The firm had revenue of $16.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.94 billion. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.150 EPS. Analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PFE shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Pfizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.18.

Pfizer 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.