Plato Investment Management Ltd Reduces Position in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Pfizer by 8.4%, selling 17,407 shares and retaining 188,872 shares valued at approximately $4.84 million.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Amundi, also increased their holdings in Pfizer during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Pfizer's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations with an EPS of $0.78 and revenue of $14.65 billion, leading to analysts forecasting growth with an average price target of $28.12.

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 188,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 17,407 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Pfizer were worth $4,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 11.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 132,478 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,358,000 after acquiring an additional 13,228 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,413,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $35,817,000 after acquiring an additional 17,032 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the first quarter worth about $8,283,000. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its stake in Pfizer by 69.6% in the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 31,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Pfizer by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 125,964 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 10,051 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut their target price on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.12.

Pfizer Stock Up 1.1%

PFE traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.84. The stock had a trading volume of 36,770,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,782,688. The company has a market capitalization of $141.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.55. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $30.43. 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 50 day simple moving average of $24.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.32.

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

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's payout ratio is currently 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.