Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) Shares Sold by Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,694 shares during the period. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,745,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,284,000 after acquiring an additional 37,636 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 37.8% during the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 21,086 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 7.0% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 18,865 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the third quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC raised its position in Pfizer by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 25,102 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.92.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.27.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.