Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 22,242 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 697,507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 22,242 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $19,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Pfizer by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,209,768 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,886,849,000 after acquiring an additional 11,099,024 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 71,794,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,008,798,000 after buying an additional 2,241,609 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,104,088 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,593,000 after buying an additional 290,760 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,923,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $417,561,000 after buying an additional 470,003 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,260,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $287,077,000 after buying an additional 238,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Trading Down 0.8 %

Pfizer stock opened at $29.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.86. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $34.11. The stock has a market cap of $166.71 billion, a PE ratio of -490.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.68.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a positive return on equity of 8.42% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2,799.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PFE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.54.

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.