Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Invests $4.48 Million in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,475,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PM. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 grew its position in 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 grew its position in 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 grew its position in 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. grew its position in 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 owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of PM stock opened at $154.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $141.09 and its 200 day moving average is $130.80. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

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.