Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,991 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 18,225 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Pfizer by 10.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,161,261,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393,992 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Pfizer by 30.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,054,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $797,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,678,004 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Pfizer by 9.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 60,207,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,997,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,185,453 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Pfizer by 219.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,503,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $182,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Pfizer by 38.9% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,028,940 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $332,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:PFE opened at $25.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.83 billion, a PE ratio of 70.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.42. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $40.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.37 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Pfizer’s revenue was down 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is 466.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered shares of Pfizer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

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.