Starboard Value has fully exited its stake in Pfizer, ending a year-long activist push aimed at lifting the pharma giant’s lagging share price.
🔍 Key Highlights
- Starboard sold ~8.5M shares in Q3, per its latest 13F filing.
- At peak, the hedge fund held 15.4M Pfizer shares (Q4 2024).
- Starboard initially disclosed a ~$1B stake when Pfizer’s stock had fallen to nearly half of its pandemic-era high.
- Founder Jeffrey Smith previously criticized Pfizer’s board, urging stronger accountability for underperformance.
- Pfizer’s market cap now sits at $142B, down from $162B when Starboard first revealed its position.
🧭 Activist Track Record
Starboard remains one of Wall Street’s most active players:
- Built stakes this year in TripAdvisor, Rogers, and BILL Holdings, quickly securing a board seat at BILL.
- Attempted to team up with former Pfizer executives — including ex-CEO Ian Read — though talks fizzled.
Starboard also exited its position in Fortrea Holdings, selling 2.5M shares after the CRO’s stock fell nearly 50% since the hedge fund’s initial investment.
💡 What It Signals
The move reinforces a familiar activist theme: limited patience for mega-cap turnarounds when performance lags and investor influence is constrained.