First Financial Bank Trust Division Has $5.23 Million Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 196,991 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 22,966 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its stake in Pfizer by 168.3% in 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 period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Pfizer from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pfizer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.3 %

PFE traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.61. 32,718,451 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,828,066. The stock has a market cap of $150.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.96, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.08. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.48 and a fifty-two week high of $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.43%.

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.