Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Sells 159,292 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

by · The Markets Daily

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Free Report) by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 159,292 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,008,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241,609 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Pfizer by 2.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,560,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,929,000 after buying an additional 456,168 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 4.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,553,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $479,073,000 after buying an additional 658,420 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 3.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $417,561,000 after buying an additional 470,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 13,118,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $379,657,000 after buying an additional 544,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.58.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on PFE

Pfizer Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.72 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 7.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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