Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 765,037 Shares of Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,366,414 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 765,037 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $403,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the 4th quarter valued at $1,830,986,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 89,113,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,218,929,000 after acquiring an additional 14,342,946 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,514,971 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,208,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,581,757 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 47.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,070,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $638,787,000 after acquiring an additional 8,108,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 577.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,786,084 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $218,817,000 after purchasing an additional 7,489,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Pfizer from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Pfizer from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Pfizer from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.56.

Pfizer News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pfizer continues to draw attention from income investors because of its large dividend payout, and some market commentary frames the stock as a potential value play for buyers seeking yield. How Pfizer’s (PFE) Dividend Record Separates Tax Treatment From Business Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage continues to highlight Pfizer as an attractively priced healthcare stock after the recent FDA approval for IBRANCE, which could support the investment case if pipeline progress continues. Is Pfizer (PFE) Undervalued After IBRANCE Won A New FDA Approval?
• Neutral Sentiment: Pfizer is also attracting broad investor attention in screening and “most searched” lists, which reflects heightened trading interest but does not by itself change the fundamentals. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target on Pfizer and kept a neutral stance, signaling limited near-term upside in the bank’s view and likely contributing to the stock’s weakness. Pfizer price target cut news
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles questioned whether Pfizer’s dividend is riskier than it appears, which can dampen enthusiasm even though the stock is known for income appeal. Opinion: Pfizer’s Dividend Is Riskier Than You Might Think
• Negative Sentiment: News coverage about structural problems at Pfizer’s former headquarters added another negative headline, even though one report said the issues were related to construction rather than steel quality. ‘Failures happen during construction’: Office-to-residential conversions are all over NYC, but failures usually get fixed before they get worse

Pfizer Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $24.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.20. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.11 and a 52-week high of $28.75.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.84 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.30%.

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas.

Pfizer’s portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business.