Sabal Trust CO Purchases 55,705 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Sabal Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 837,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 55,705 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO's holdings in Pfizer were worth $21,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 518,535,151 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $13,756,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285,276 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,459,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,124,330,000 after buying an additional 25,315,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Pfizer by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,589,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,190,131,000 after buying an additional 2,923,537 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,328,986,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Pfizer by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 76,502,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,029,604,000 after acquiring an additional 5,350,381 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.30. The company had a trading volume of 31,721,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,253,215. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.92 and a 1-year high of $31.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $138.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.57.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders 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 7.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer's dividend payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PFE. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Pfizer to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.17.

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.