Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Pfizer Inc. $PFE

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 636,061 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 146,992 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $16,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in Pfizer by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 145,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 46,043 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,019,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 236.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 48,900 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 29.9% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 248,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 57,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 76.4% during the third quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 109,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 47,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post-earnings bullishness: unusual call-option activity and an upbeat earnings outlook have put some investors on the buy side, supporting short-term sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary sees a buying opportunity after the quarter — analysts and commentators highlight attractive valuation and the company’s ability to generate cash as reasons to consider PFE after results. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Capital return profile: coverage notes Pfizer returned about $9.8B to shareholders and remains a high-yield candidate for income investors, which supports the stock’s floor for dividend-seeking buyers. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend/yield appeal: Pfizer appears on lists of high-yield dividend names, attracting income-focused investors even as growth questions persist. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term growth outlook is mixed — analyses examine whether newly acquired and in‑pipeline drugs can offset a looming 2026–2030 patent cliff; outcome will determine medium-term revenue trajectory. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: “Is now the best time to buy?” pieces suggest re-evaluating Pfizer after earnings — these are informative to investors but stop short of a consensus buy/sell signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Daiwa cut Pfizer from “outperform” to “neutral” and set a $27 price target, signaling limited near-term upside from their perspective and adding downward pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation / structural concerns: opinion pieces argue Pfizer could be a value trap if new product flow and M&A don’t offset fading COVID-era sales and patent expiries, which raises caution among some investors. Read More.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock opened at $27.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.17. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $27.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $156.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 0.47.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.93 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 12.42%.Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Pfizer from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.00.

About Pfizer

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.