Huntington National Bank Decreases Position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Huntington National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 740,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 22,520 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $21,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PFE. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 279.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,378,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,378,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $172,902,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $146,481,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Pfizer by 24,961.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,497,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,891,000 after buying an additional 2,487,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Pfizer by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,498,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,181,000 after buying an additional 2,459,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Pfizer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pfizer 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,400. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $26.72 on Thursday. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.20 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.80 and its 200 day moving average is $28.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67.

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. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

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

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.