Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,591 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $13,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PM. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Philip Morris International in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 428 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PM. Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE PM opened at $90.58 on Thursday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.23 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $91.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.02. The stock has a market cap of $140.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.61.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.74%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 103.59%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Profile

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.