Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors cut its Pfizer stake by 60.6% in the second quarter, selling 420,001 shares and retaining 273,489 shares valued at approximately $6.6 million.
• Pfizer exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.77 in EPS and $15.03 billion in revenue, while raising attention with its $0.43 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 6.1% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $28.28 price target; investors are weighing pipeline progress and potential revenue growth against patent expirations and legal liabilities.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 273,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 420,001 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $6,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,346,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $13,479,520,000 after purchasing an additional 7,031,162 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,670,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $12,754,464,000 after buying an additional 31,412,883 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Pfizer by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 300,445,164 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,481,085,000 after buying an additional 1,357,756 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 130,192,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,235,642,000 after buying an additional 1,184,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,218,929,000 after buying an additional 14,342,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $28.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $28.75. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.25. The stock has a market cap of $159.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84 and a beta of 0.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Pfizer had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The business had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 24th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 226.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Pfizer from an "underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Pfizer from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.28.

Key Stories Impacting Pfizer

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer completed a Phase 1/2 study of PF-07868489, an experimental treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. The milestone supports early-stage pipeline progress, though additional clinical testing will be needed before any potential commercialization. Pfizer’s PF-07868489 PAH Study Reaches Completion
• Positive Sentiment: Several additional clinical updates highlighted progress across Pfizer’s development portfolio: completion of a Phase 1 atirmociclib study, completion of a drug-interaction study for PF-07248144, and a new Phase 1 liver study for atirmociclib. These milestones may reinforce confidence in Pfizer’s ability to replenish revenue as older products face competition. Atirmociclib Study Update PF-07248144 Study Update
• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer is also expanding real-world evidence efforts for prostate cancer therapies, Ibrance in advanced breast cancer, and a migraine treatment study in India. These studies could support broader use and strengthen commercial evidence for existing medicines. Pfizer Real-World Prostate Cancer Study
• Positive Sentiment: Investor-oriented coverage remains constructive, citing Pfizer’s roughly 19% year-to-date gain, attractive dividend yield, and reported hedge-fund buying. The stock’s move toward its 52-week high suggests improving sentiment. Hedge Funds Buying Pfizer
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity may increase short-term trading interest, but it does not establish a clear fundamental direction for PFE. Pfizer Options Trading
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage of settlements involving thousands of Depo-Provera lawsuits raises concerns about potential legal costs and ongoing liability. Analysts also continue to weigh whether new drugs and acquisitions can offset revenue losses from expiring patents. Pfizer Legal Claims

Pfizer Profile

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.

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