HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 27,391 Shares of Pfizer Inc. $PFE

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,744,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27,391 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $69,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 36,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 302.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter valued at $32,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $27.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.84 and a 200-day moving average of $25.23. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $27.94. The company has a market capitalization of $156.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.47.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 12.42%.The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wolfe Research set a $24.00 price target on shares of Pfizer and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.