Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Sells 1,706 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,706 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 10.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,161,261,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393,992 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,817,055,000 after purchasing an additional 348,628 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 9.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,997,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,185,453 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 30.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $797,901,000 after buying an additional 5,678,004 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 18,380,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $609,692,000 after buying an additional 101,256 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE:PFE traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $25.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 46,526,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,120,812. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $40.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.37 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 3.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 466.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Argus cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

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.