Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Reduces Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC trimmed its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,327 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,505 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% during 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 period. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock opened at $26.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $148.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.26. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 121.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PFE. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.92.

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.