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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1377)	1/28/1999 4:04:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Pfizer Plans to Vote on 3-for-1 Stock Split in April (Update1) Bloomberg News January 28, 1999, 2:31 p.m. ET Pfizer Plans to Vote on 3-for-1 Stock Split in April (Update1) (Adds analyst comment in the 4th paragraph. Updates stock price in the last paragraph.) New York, Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., maker of the anti-impotence pill Viagra, said it will hold a vote in April that could authorize a 3-for-1 stock split. If authorized by the drugmaker's board, the split could take place as early as June. It's the company's eighth split since it went public in 1942. Pfizer shares last split 2-for-1 in 1997. Pfizer is the latest pharmaceutical company to announce a stock split as share prices rise with investors' enthusiasm for higher earnings and newer, better drugs. Last year, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Abbott Laboratories, American Home Products Corp., Schering-Plough Corp. and Merck & Co. announced splits. ''Pfizer has a number of new products it launched in the last year, including Viagra and Celebrex, its arthritis drug,'' said James Flynn, an ING Baring Furman Selz analyst with a ''hold'' rating on Pfizer. ''It has earnings growth expectations of 18 to 20 percent over the next five years. There's a lot of enthusiasm for it right now.'' Pfizer spokesman Brian McGlynn said the date of record for the split and the date of the split will be set April 22, when the company holds its annual meeting. Shareholders will vote that day on increasing the number of shares outstanding, and if they approve it, the board will then vote on the stock split, he said. Pfizer has seen its share price double since its 1997 split. It has risen 53 percent in the past year. The pharmaceutical industry has been helped by the aging of the U.S. population and technical advances that improved the efficiency of the drug development process. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also is reviewing and approving new products more quickly, while allowing companies to market the products directly to consumers. Pfizer, based in New York, rose 1 9/16 to 123 1/2 in midafternoon trading. --Christopher Elser and Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom