Eastern Bank Sells 10,127 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Eastern Bank lowered its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 10,127 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PFE. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 290,460,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,405,930,000 after buying an additional 3,405,539 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,143,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,766,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 117,666,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,392,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855,419 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,068,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977,587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFE. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Pfizer stock opened at $26.79 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.16 and a 200-day moving average of $28.04. The company has a market capitalization of $151.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 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.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $17.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pfizer’s payout ratio is currently 232.43%.

Insider Activity at Pfizer

In other news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.