Rakuten Securities Inc. Purchases 432 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 664.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 497 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 432 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after purchasing an additional 621,034 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,422,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,615,449,000 after purchasing an additional 190,201 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE PM opened at $151.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $159.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $137.92 and its 200-day moving average is $129.73.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. Research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Company 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.