Empowered Funds LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Pfizer Inc. by 28.3%, selling 248,165 shares, leaving it with 629,135 shares valued at approximately $15.94 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Pfizer, with two strong buys, four buys, eleven holds, and one sell, and an average price target of $28.12.
• Pfizer reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $0.78 for the last quarter, which surpassed analyst estimates by $0.20 and showed a revenue increase of 10.3% year-over-year.

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 629,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 248,165 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $15,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Gould Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.12.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $24.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.32. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.92 and a 52-week high of $30.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.20. Pfizer had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio is presently 91.49%.

Pfizer Company 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.

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