MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Pfizer Inc. by 1.9%, owning 1,471,980 shares worth $37.3 million after selling 28,046 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Pfizer, with Brighton Jones LLC's stake jumping by 1,282.4% in the last quarter.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Pfizer, with the average target now at $28.12, while the company reported earnings of $0.78 per share, beating estimates.

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,471,980 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 28,046 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $37,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 1,282.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 666,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $17,677,000 after acquiring an additional 618,117 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in Pfizer by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 24,656 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 3,424 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 110.1% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 227,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,031,000 after acquiring an additional 119,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth $34,536,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on PFE. UBS Group raised their target price on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.12.

Pfizer Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.8250 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.40. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month high of $30.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.43 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 16.84%.Pfizer's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio is 91.49%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.