Barry Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Barry Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,450 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 643 shares during the period. Pfizer accounts for about 1.9% of Barry Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Barry Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $5,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,246,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,985,783,000 after acquiring an additional 8,473,686 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Pfizer by 0.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,817,055,000 after acquiring an additional 348,628 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,129,927,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Pfizer by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 68,506,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,972,300,000 after acquiring an additional 8,298,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 valued at $797,901,000 after buying an additional 5,678,004 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PFE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus downgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.86.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE traded up $0.83 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.39. 30,812,499 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,383,613. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $40.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $166.54 billion, a PE ratio of -485.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.96.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.26. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,799.53%.

About Pfizer

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.