Cerity Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,871,667 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 26,670 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Pfizer were worth $47,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Code Waechter LLC bought a new position in Pfizer in the first quarter valued at about $335,000. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 7.7% in the first quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,086 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in Pfizer by 0.6% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 953,110 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $24,152,000 after buying an additional 6,057 shares in the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 9.8% in the first quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 15,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Pfizer by 14.5% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 152,240 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,858,000 after buying an additional 19,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC reduced their price target on Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Pfizer from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Pfizer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.55.

Pfizer Price Performance

NYSE PFE traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.65. 34,838,317 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,792,724. The company has a market capitalization of $145.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.92 and a 12-month high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 124.64%.

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.