State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 178,521 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in Pfizer Inc. by 8.5%, owning 1,910,304 shares worth approximately $48.4 million after selling 178,521 shares this quarter.
• Pfizer reported a 10.3% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, achieving $14.65 billion and exceeding analysts' expectations by over $1 billion.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.8% with shares trading at around $25.12.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,910,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 178,521 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Pfizer were worth $48,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 39,368 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.1% in the first quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 23,175 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 5.6% in the first quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC now owns 8,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 141,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MSH Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the first quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 34,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PFE. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.12.

Pfizer Price Performance

Pfizer stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.16. 31,819,451 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 45,227,284. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $20.92 and a one year high of $30.43. The stock has a market cap of $143.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.44.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 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 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 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio is presently 91.49%.

Pfizer 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.