Guardian Investment Management Sells 4,790 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Guardian Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,752 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,790 shares during the period. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Pfizer by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 721,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $18,281,000 after purchasing an additional 29,825 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its holdings in Pfizer by 17.8% during the first quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 28,507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 4,303 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Pfizer by 9.8% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 22,185 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its stake in Pfizer by 69.6% during the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 31,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 13,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hixon Zuercher LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 80,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,047,000 after acquiring an additional 14,753 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.17.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $24.27 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.57. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.83.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.25. Pfizer had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $13.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

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.