National Pension Service Grows Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,491,219 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,370 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.16% of Philip Morris International worth $234,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PM. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 32,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 5,793 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Philip Morris International by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 311,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,306,000 after buying an additional 4,531 shares during the period. Hyman Charles D lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Hyman Charles D now owns 73,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,911,000 after buying an additional 7,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $818,000. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at $9,412,880.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PM shares. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.4 %

PM traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $98.67. 1,123,778 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,673,452. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.38. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $100.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

About Philip Morris International

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.