Townsend & Associates Inc Trims Stake in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Townsend & Associates Inc cut its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,871 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFE. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 11.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 132,478 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,358,000 after purchasing an additional 13,228 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,413,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,817,000 after purchasing an additional 17,032 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter worth about $8,283,000. Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,411,000. Finally, Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Pfizer by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Stock Performance

PFE stock opened at $24.52 on Monday. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $20.92 and a one year high of $29.36. The firm has a market cap of $139.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.11.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFE. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Pfizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.13.

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.