California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 198,520 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,150,507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 198,520 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Pfizer worth $242,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pfizer in the fourth quarter worth about $2,328,986,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,124,330,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315,159 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,029,604,000 after buying an additional 5,350,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in Pfizer by 1,106.0% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,619,213 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $143,967,000 after buying an additional 5,153,257 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE PFE traded up $0.62 on Wednesday, reaching $24.41. The stock had a trading volume of 53,879,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,882,811. The company has a market capitalization of $138.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.86. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.05%. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock bought 19,457 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,707 shares in the company, valued at $710,684.55. This trade represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.64.

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.